PutShady

(English isn't my first language, so if I make any major mistakes, please forgive me :).)

First of all, assuming mostly Kenny Johnson fans come here, is it worth buying the film for this great actor alone? Most certainly! You're a fan? Get the DVD right now!

ZZYZX is Richard Halperns debut as a director. He recently started work on his next film Cold Cream. The cast consists mostly of relatively unknown faces, something that I can personally appreciate from time to time. It gives the actors a chance to become the characters instead of being, let's say, Tom Cruise in his new movie. The acting is pretty good too, I'd say. Star of the movie is Kenny Johnson of Shield fame. I really love his acting. In my opinion, his acting is really natural, and thus believable. I'd love to see a lot more of him in the future.

The story start with two friends on their way to some isolated road (ZZYZX). Their relationship seems a little weird at first, one pretty much being a major ass to the other, but as the story progresses we find out it's not that strange the two ended up together. Lou (Johnson) is an ex-soldier, who apparently came back a different man from the war in Iraq. The other, Ryan, doesn't seem to enjoy his life as much as he could, and is what most would call a nerd. He's in the computergame business, doesn't seem to have a girlfriend or any friend other than Lou.

While Lou's at the wheel, the two drive down the ZZYZX when they see a man walking the road somewhere in the distance. Lou jokingly suggests hitting the man since no one's gonna find out anyway. Ryan takes his words a little too serious and as the two struggle the car does in fact hit the man. To make thing even better, not much later a woman comes strolling by and asks if the guys might have seen her husband and if they could give her a ride.

I'm a big fan of Asian cinema, not only because there are some very talented artists out there, but also because they seem to go different places in their movies. For a couple of reasons this movie reminded me of some of Miike's movies. Miike, for those who don't know him, is one of the most popular directors in japan at the moment, with some great movies like Audition and Gozu on his name. Although this movie won't go anywhere near the extremes seen in the latter movie, the style of the movie did remind me a bit of the first. Because this ís a real indie-film (independent - not sure if the terms used in the English language) it's able to go places other films won't come near. There's some pretty graphic stuff in here, though it's never there for the sole reason of shocking the audience. Violence is used effectively, again much like in movies like Audition.

A yellow glow, some dreamlike (or rather nightmarelike) sequences and some good editing give the movie an attractive visual style. I don't know what the budget was, but assuming it can't be much they've really accomplished a lot with what they had. The music is pretty good too, especially during the second half.

In conclusion, it's a great film, no matter how you look at it. Whether you like Kenny Johnson, enjoy independent films or love thrillers you won't be disappointed. It's too bad there's some childish voting going on everywhere on this site - this movie doesn't deserve anything near a 1, though you can expect some kids voting for the sole reason of lowering the overall rating. What it does deserve is all the praise it can get. It's not a prefect movie, but it's probably accomplished everything the makes set out to accomplish.

And let me say it just one last time - Kenny Johnson is a great actor. Hope to see a lot more of him in the future. Can't wait till the fifth season of the Shield is available on DVD - it's hasn't aired yet here in the Netherlands :(.

First of all, let me say English is not my first language. Chances are I'll make a couple of grammatical errors. Let me apologies in advance.

This is the first time I'm writing a review on IMDb, and I really don't have that much to say, but since this particular movie doesn't seem to get the attention it deserves I'll have a go at it.

I just finished watching it. It's been part of my Asian cinema collecting for maybe two weeks now, and after viewing Miike's "Gozu" yesterday it was time to give this film a go. The story is far from original. A young teacher has trouble handling his class. One day the idea of raising fireflies is suggested by one of the children, and it seems like a good project for everyone to get to know each other, and do some bonding. As you might expect, there are some kids that don't get along too well, there's an outcast that refuses to communicate with the others, and some other familiar characters. This all changes during the movie though... You can probably guess the rest of the story.

Fortunatly, there's a lot more to the movie than just the story itself. The characters, although unoriginal, are done quite well thanks to more than decent acting by the child-actors. You've got to give the director and the rest of the crew credit, if not only for having the children run with their feet tied together without them falling all over each other every two seconds. The pacing is good for the most part - I never got bored - and I'm a sucker for Japanese architecture and scenery. The school-building felt to me like a warm place, especially thanks to the way it's implemented in the surrounding nature (I hope this makes any sense). It's something I personally don't see to often, but really enjoy.

I guess what I'm trying to say is this is very much a film for those who enjoy nice scenery, some good acting and a little peek into another culture, but it's nothing groundbreaking. I liked it a lot, though I'm not really sure why.

I hope more replies will follow, I'd love to hear how other feel about the movie.