m_shamoo

Look, this movie is no Taxi Driver or Apocalypse Now, but it's a pretty damn good movie, in my humble opinion. I don't know if it's cause I'm a Jewish kid from New York who's trying to be a third grade teacher, and doesn't think I can handle the attractive yet empty notion of making hundreds of thousands of dollars selling stock, but I loved this movie. Giovanni Ribisi, who I think is a solid actor, does a great job. Somehow, it took me years to finally see this flick, but running the risk of being repetitive, I liked it.

Fast paced, good actors, intriguing plot. Simply put, this movie works. You won't cry, you'll laugh a bit, but you'll be happy you rented it or stayed up to watch it on HBO. It reminds me of Rounders, just in the sense of following a strong willed 20 something white kid with determination and a little bit of soul. I'm rambling at this point, but I just wanted to put in a recommendation to watch this movie if you haven't already. Two hours of your life that you may have been spent doing something more admirable, but not being much more entertained.

Man, that movie was intense. I saw Irreverisible a while back and just discovered this film. As I tried to rate it I have to admit that if a film effects you in the way this movie just did then there is something to it. I know many people who would be disgusted by this film and simply say they did not like it, it was a "bad movie." The reality is that every movie doesn't have to be uplifting and make you feel good. All I know is that I feel extremely alone and weird at the moment, independent of anything going on in my life. In that way, I think the film did its job. To an extent, the main character is so sick and jaded that one doesn't exactly relate to him or identify with the character. At the same time however, for those of us that don't experience life as rosy and joyous all the time, there is an element of utter pessimism that one can relate to. In a traditional sense, not that much actually happens in this movie. The majority of it is filled with an inner dialogue and scenes of people just sitting around.

I suppose it's odd for me to say that I like this film, but as I said, I think it did its job. The soundtrack was well done and the acting was thoroughly convincing. If you can deal with "depressing" and disturbing movies, I'd give I Stand Alone a shot. If not, rent Big and go to bed feeling nostalgic and hopeful about the future.