Runtime:
90 minutes
Directed
by: Mark Illsley
Starring:
Nick Stahl, Johnny Galicki, Lukas Haas, Rachael Leigh Cook
From:
Many different companies, including Motion Picture Corporation of
America and Gemini Film
Yep,
after way too long I watched another Rachael film. I figured today
was an appropriate day to do so; today is Mother's Day and well, this
past Tuesday it was announced that she and her husband Daniel Gillies
(they've been married since August of '04) were going to have a kid
for the first time in the fall. Congratulations to the couple.
Anyway, as she's going to be a mom in a few months... I've had the
DVD for awhile but tonight was the time to give it a viewing.
The
plot: A trio of college kids on a ficticious campus in New York are
bosom buddies; there is Toby (Stahl), a straight A student from high
school; there is also loudmouth brash Jude (Galicki), and there's
bookworm wallflower Casey (Haas). They all enjoy the thrill (and
agony) of gambling on sporting events. Well, Jude gets the idea that
they should become bookies themselves for the students on campus,
despite there being in the area a pair of mobster types who handle
that racket already (longtime character actors David Proval and John
Diehl; both guys are “That Guy” sort of people you likely have
seen before even if you didn't realize it, as both have been acting
for a few decades now). Things start off fine at first and they enjoy
the fat cash they get for the operation, and Toby is enjoying the
budding romance with Hunter (Cook). But then problems happen,
including Jude enjoying the nose candy, and the mobster types start
to get angry...
Overall,
this is not a great film but it isn't bad either. It's simply good
and a fine way to spend an hour and a half. There aren't too many
surprises... and it still is entertaining, even if you can tell at
times this is a low-budget thing. At least the movie doesn't suck or
is aggravating. Sure, Jude is a D-bag throughout and becomes an even
bigger one after he gets money and becomes a cokehead, but that was
the point. It is a rainy afternoon sort of movie if you do manage to
track it down or actually see it play on TV somewhere. At least
Rachael looks pretty hot as usual, IMO.
The
most interesting thing about the movie to me is that it is set in
America and all the characters are American, so the movie was
actually filmed in... Cologne, Germany, disguised as a random city in
New York state. I imagine someone or some company got them a really
cheap deal to film in the city and use such sites in the city as the
giant indoor arena now known as Lanxess Arena, which among other
things held a UFC show, WWE house shows, and many concerts. The
exteriors of that fancy-looking building was used to represent the
college basketball arena on campus.
Like
I said, this is a standard film which at least isn't bad, even if
there's cliches and it could have been at least real good. I'll be
back tomorrow night and I'll be back with talking about Star Trek. It
turns out I won't be watching V or VI, but that is OK with me. At
least I can start sooner on seeing the Fast & The Furious movies.
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