Post by Casablanca on Oct 24, 2009 18:32:49 GMT -5
[NOTE: This is a review to a pre-screening of "Morgan Gets a Job". I am unaware what, if any, changes are in the theatrical.]
As of this point in time, it strikes me that I, well, know Morgan pretty good. I have seen her get a prequel, and now, with larah’s debut feature, I have seen her get a job. . However, it seems to me that what Morgan truly needs is a sense of direction and, at least, a notion of scope. There is none of that here; here, we have only a cartoon landscape with four stop signs boxing in a three by three square foot of space. In this space rests the film, barred off from enjoying the ambition of plot or the range of true storytelling. It’s either a hodgepodge of inane comical ideas or the wetdream of a pre-teen girl with large eyes. Either way, it’s nothing but popcorn, so corny, that if it were any more so, I’d expect to see it on a cob. However, despite this, it is a film that stands there swinging way after their three strikes, and even after the pitcher packed up and went home, and because of this, we are occasionally hit with a funny note; not funny in a fake, pretensions manner with the musical cue; but a nice, genuine form of humor that sneaks in, leaves, and then sneaks back. Relatively quickly, fortunately.
The characters are few and consuming, as in, they occupy most of the space in which they take part. Morgan, notably, but also “better Morgan”, who appears after something of a pseuo-scientifc occurrence; and then Morgan’s girlfriend. Aside from this, there are a variety of a supporting cast, doing a variety of supporting things; ranging from the humorous (think, customer at Morgan’s service), or the even more minor; either way, they sideline a battle between the two central characters that involve jealousy, anger, and, unexpectedly, a literal battle. I found the plot elements to be sufferable, though I must say that there was very little beef to this story; it was all somewhat grab and go, not offering any details or motive for much of the actions displayed. Were there reasoning and decision making left uncovered, though? No, not really;’ and this is more a fault of two-sided characters, and not the fault of the director, herself. They were funny, silly; but put there to perform jokes, somewhat like a clown in the spotlight that disappeared as soon as the light left. They existed solely for our entertainment, and, in any fictional universe; as a muse for larah’s writing; there is no humanity or background to them, and it is not until the final scenes do we see anything that even mimics emotion.
I don’t want to underplay the film for comic touches, though; there are quite a few good moments. A few that spring to mind include a “Mona Lisa” drawing, a customer at Morgan’s store batting out three times, and, for some odd reason, a mailman saying he has a package fro “better Morgan”. All of it so silly, why did I enjoy it so much? I think it is because there is a definite level of absurdity there that is scarcely present in few other movies; it is random, chaotic, and goofy- and, at times, really hits me as more refreshing then any penis joke you are liable to find. It is nice, once in a while, to see something unabashedly, shamelessly amusing; all while staying quite clean, without a hint of vulgarity. I quite like larah’s humor.
Another fault would be the pacing. The film is already quite short, I am not sure how long, but it comes across like an episode of an animated sit com, and not a full blown movie it should be. I would love to see larah do an animated television show, as I think she has true potential in that field, and is gifted in a type of humor that, despite preference or obscene-allowance, all can enjoy. It is fractured, it is sliced up, and have frequent, even if humorous, cuts to dice it up more then usually expected. Of course, this makes the film fly by quicker then a cheetah on a motorbike, and it is breezy, and entertaining; I must admit. However, it terms of structurally formed writing which tells a story through elements and through detail; this really fails as that, and all that pacing seems to come off as a gimmick to induce enjoyment. Kind of the film, yes, but well done? I don’t think so, no; as the movie is really sub-par.
In some regard, this may also be one of the most accessible films since g”, as, throughout the many complex and layered films emerge, and fade into history of “great films” (“Ufology”, “A Moral Aroma”), it is nice to have something that makes me sort of lean forward and mutter a “hmm” to myself. A sigh of interest that a film so totally and effortlessly managed to drop all forms of pretense, and so hilariously managed to put forth bad writing and silly character as though they should be there. There is a wittiness, though, that you cannot escape. It is there in every scene that works, and every time I laughed; which is to say, more often then much comedies I see, comedies that are overall better films then this.
There is a bit of character development, or interaction towards the end, and it would come off as unusually off-tiltered; without the scene earlier, towards the start, of Morgan and Kim discussing what to do about “better Morgan”, which is actually a funny and well done sequence (I enjoy them singing Lennon on the roof), as the scene both has some of the few “real” conversation in the movie, as well as the odd cutting technique (something like a flash to something which never happened) which I enjoy seeing used. I would, despite me saying earlier I have grown used to seeing Morgan, actually love to see a sequel to this film. Heck, even if larah ever went and made an animated TV show, as I suggest below, these would be great characters in something like that.
This is such a hard film to judge, as I find myself going back and editing sentences, as I don’t want to over-rate it or under-rate it. It is hilarious, and very funny, yes. But it is not a great film, nor even “pretty good”, but “fair/decent”. It is accomplished slapstick, though, and is bound to go down as a prime example of this type of humor; a film you will see me reference to for ages when discussing comedy. (Which is proven in the film itself, as I really liked the first half more then the second, when it got down to the battle. A nice idea, but the first half was much better).
As for the plot, despite the shortness and poor structure of the film, it actually was a complete circle. There was conflict, opening, and an ending, and this did shock me, as it actually felt pretty complete. The problem is, there was so little to it, it felt like the film just darted through everything, and only stomped on the brakes for a good joke. I would have loved to see both more humor (though there was plenty here), and more story elements to it, maybe even a sub-plot. Even if it amounted to twenty more pages of comedy between Morgan and Kim, more is usually always better in cases like this.
Overall, it isn’t really well formatted (and no, I do not mean technical format), nor is it well accomplished when compared to true stories told well, though it is bright and fun-loving, and, at moments, has some of the silliest, most carefree humor I have seen in any film in recent light. And that makes me smile, since I do, quickly, adapt with its inane-comical outlet, and am more fond of it then I probably should admit to being. However, being a critic, and with the foreknowledge of all the great films I have seen, I cannot call it good writing, and this fact does not escape me, even now, recalling the many moments of enjoyment, when I sat laughing at how poorly constructed it is. It is as bad as you can get, and still stay good, and almost even in the territory (though I usually don’t believe such a thing exists), as good in a bad way. However you want to put it, it is guaranteed entertainment that you will be guilty about for days; I don’t see a good review coming for it, though I expect there will not be a frown or grimace in the house. There wasn’t from me, anyways. I loved its free formed, all out, off-the-wall insanity, despite the film being a poor display of plot emphasis and a comical story mapped out. (But truly, I wasn’t even thinking of those things until after the film ended), and still will say it had me laughing more then; well, probably any comedy in recent memory; maybe even since the earliest ones I have seen. It joins right up there in the ranks of “18th Road”, “g”, and “Catching Kerby” in terms of comedy (only). In terms of film, it is unfortunate that it can not match; and only comes off as a decent movie with the best sense of humor any writer has had in ages.
[NOTE TO DIRECTOR: I often don't leave any star ratings, because I really don't believe in doing them, but if you want one, please just ask, and I'll do the best I can.]
As of this point in time, it strikes me that I, well, know Morgan pretty good. I have seen her get a prequel, and now, with larah’s debut feature, I have seen her get a job. . However, it seems to me that what Morgan truly needs is a sense of direction and, at least, a notion of scope. There is none of that here; here, we have only a cartoon landscape with four stop signs boxing in a three by three square foot of space. In this space rests the film, barred off from enjoying the ambition of plot or the range of true storytelling. It’s either a hodgepodge of inane comical ideas or the wetdream of a pre-teen girl with large eyes. Either way, it’s nothing but popcorn, so corny, that if it were any more so, I’d expect to see it on a cob. However, despite this, it is a film that stands there swinging way after their three strikes, and even after the pitcher packed up and went home, and because of this, we are occasionally hit with a funny note; not funny in a fake, pretensions manner with the musical cue; but a nice, genuine form of humor that sneaks in, leaves, and then sneaks back. Relatively quickly, fortunately.
The characters are few and consuming, as in, they occupy most of the space in which they take part. Morgan, notably, but also “better Morgan”, who appears after something of a pseuo-scientifc occurrence; and then Morgan’s girlfriend. Aside from this, there are a variety of a supporting cast, doing a variety of supporting things; ranging from the humorous (think, customer at Morgan’s service), or the even more minor; either way, they sideline a battle between the two central characters that involve jealousy, anger, and, unexpectedly, a literal battle. I found the plot elements to be sufferable, though I must say that there was very little beef to this story; it was all somewhat grab and go, not offering any details or motive for much of the actions displayed. Were there reasoning and decision making left uncovered, though? No, not really;’ and this is more a fault of two-sided characters, and not the fault of the director, herself. They were funny, silly; but put there to perform jokes, somewhat like a clown in the spotlight that disappeared as soon as the light left. They existed solely for our entertainment, and, in any fictional universe; as a muse for larah’s writing; there is no humanity or background to them, and it is not until the final scenes do we see anything that even mimics emotion.
I don’t want to underplay the film for comic touches, though; there are quite a few good moments. A few that spring to mind include a “Mona Lisa” drawing, a customer at Morgan’s store batting out three times, and, for some odd reason, a mailman saying he has a package fro “better Morgan”. All of it so silly, why did I enjoy it so much? I think it is because there is a definite level of absurdity there that is scarcely present in few other movies; it is random, chaotic, and goofy- and, at times, really hits me as more refreshing then any penis joke you are liable to find. It is nice, once in a while, to see something unabashedly, shamelessly amusing; all while staying quite clean, without a hint of vulgarity. I quite like larah’s humor.
Another fault would be the pacing. The film is already quite short, I am not sure how long, but it comes across like an episode of an animated sit com, and not a full blown movie it should be. I would love to see larah do an animated television show, as I think she has true potential in that field, and is gifted in a type of humor that, despite preference or obscene-allowance, all can enjoy. It is fractured, it is sliced up, and have frequent, even if humorous, cuts to dice it up more then usually expected. Of course, this makes the film fly by quicker then a cheetah on a motorbike, and it is breezy, and entertaining; I must admit. However, it terms of structurally formed writing which tells a story through elements and through detail; this really fails as that, and all that pacing seems to come off as a gimmick to induce enjoyment. Kind of the film, yes, but well done? I don’t think so, no; as the movie is really sub-par.
In some regard, this may also be one of the most accessible films since g”, as, throughout the many complex and layered films emerge, and fade into history of “great films” (“Ufology”, “A Moral Aroma”), it is nice to have something that makes me sort of lean forward and mutter a “hmm” to myself. A sigh of interest that a film so totally and effortlessly managed to drop all forms of pretense, and so hilariously managed to put forth bad writing and silly character as though they should be there. There is a wittiness, though, that you cannot escape. It is there in every scene that works, and every time I laughed; which is to say, more often then much comedies I see, comedies that are overall better films then this.
There is a bit of character development, or interaction towards the end, and it would come off as unusually off-tiltered; without the scene earlier, towards the start, of Morgan and Kim discussing what to do about “better Morgan”, which is actually a funny and well done sequence (I enjoy them singing Lennon on the roof), as the scene both has some of the few “real” conversation in the movie, as well as the odd cutting technique (something like a flash to something which never happened) which I enjoy seeing used. I would, despite me saying earlier I have grown used to seeing Morgan, actually love to see a sequel to this film. Heck, even if larah ever went and made an animated TV show, as I suggest below, these would be great characters in something like that.
This is such a hard film to judge, as I find myself going back and editing sentences, as I don’t want to over-rate it or under-rate it. It is hilarious, and very funny, yes. But it is not a great film, nor even “pretty good”, but “fair/decent”. It is accomplished slapstick, though, and is bound to go down as a prime example of this type of humor; a film you will see me reference to for ages when discussing comedy. (Which is proven in the film itself, as I really liked the first half more then the second, when it got down to the battle. A nice idea, but the first half was much better).
As for the plot, despite the shortness and poor structure of the film, it actually was a complete circle. There was conflict, opening, and an ending, and this did shock me, as it actually felt pretty complete. The problem is, there was so little to it, it felt like the film just darted through everything, and only stomped on the brakes for a good joke. I would have loved to see both more humor (though there was plenty here), and more story elements to it, maybe even a sub-plot. Even if it amounted to twenty more pages of comedy between Morgan and Kim, more is usually always better in cases like this.
Overall, it isn’t really well formatted (and no, I do not mean technical format), nor is it well accomplished when compared to true stories told well, though it is bright and fun-loving, and, at moments, has some of the silliest, most carefree humor I have seen in any film in recent light. And that makes me smile, since I do, quickly, adapt with its inane-comical outlet, and am more fond of it then I probably should admit to being. However, being a critic, and with the foreknowledge of all the great films I have seen, I cannot call it good writing, and this fact does not escape me, even now, recalling the many moments of enjoyment, when I sat laughing at how poorly constructed it is. It is as bad as you can get, and still stay good, and almost even in the territory (though I usually don’t believe such a thing exists), as good in a bad way. However you want to put it, it is guaranteed entertainment that you will be guilty about for days; I don’t see a good review coming for it, though I expect there will not be a frown or grimace in the house. There wasn’t from me, anyways. I loved its free formed, all out, off-the-wall insanity, despite the film being a poor display of plot emphasis and a comical story mapped out. (But truly, I wasn’t even thinking of those things until after the film ended), and still will say it had me laughing more then; well, probably any comedy in recent memory; maybe even since the earliest ones I have seen. It joins right up there in the ranks of “18th Road”, “g”, and “Catching Kerby” in terms of comedy (only). In terms of film, it is unfortunate that it can not match; and only comes off as a decent movie with the best sense of humor any writer has had in ages.
[NOTE TO DIRECTOR: I often don't leave any star ratings, because I really don't believe in doing them, but if you want one, please just ask, and I'll do the best I can.]
