Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

SnoopyStyle Cliff Spab (Stephen Dorff) and his next door neighbor best friend since childhood Joe Dice are slacker fast food workers. The two of them get taken hostage at the local convenient store along with Wendy Pfister (Reese Witherspoon) and others. The terrorists call themselves SPLIT Image and demand to have their hostage video broadcast on live TV. After killing hostages, the authorities relent and the three remaining hostages become worldwide reality stars during their 36 days imprisonment. Cliff would often say S.F.W. in the face of the constant threats. Joe starts a shootout where he's killed. Cliff and Wendy are the two survivors and become separate media stars.Cliff is a slacker without a cause. It doesn't make him an appealing lead. His story is meandering and his character is aimless. It would have been great to have Cliff and Wendy together but it takes a long time for the characters to reunite. This movie tries to be a satire on the modern media but it's broad without anything funny. It's mimicry rather than insightful. This could have been interesting with more Witherspoon but it eventually wears out its welcome.

rjkeenan Yes, the acting and directing were a little inconsistent, and some of the lines were sophomoric and occasionally downright lame, but the value of the movie lays in it's overall existentialist theme. Cliff Spab doesn't care about the consequences of anything- he's smokes, he drinks, he curses, doesn't care about bettering himself, doesn't really care about the way he looks, and isn't afraid of anything- not even death. Is it because he was overlooked, abused, etc.? Not really. Cliff doesn't revel in fame or attention when he gets it, but rather treats it as a joke because it simply doesn't matter (even if he half enjoys it), hence the phrase "So Fu.... What." The importance of this phrase points to the notion that nothing really matters in life. Someone can get the best grades, go to the best schools, watch their weight, be good to others, always do right, gain fame and notoriety...or they can be shot in the head in the middle of a store robbery. In the grand scheme of things it really doesn't matter. Quoting Chuck Palahniuk, "On a long enough time-line, the survival rate for everyone drops to zero." Our existence in our solar system, in our galaxy, in the universe is a spec of dust on a spec of dust on a spec of dust, hence SFW (nothing really matters).The black comedy and satire of this movie comes from the doting media and fans of Cliff Spab. It's not that they really love him, they are just looking for an answer- a motto to guide their lives. But, as in real life, something seemingly meaningful to you one moment becomes a useless fad in the next moment. In the conclusion of the movie Barbara Wyler tries to shoot Cliff or something (it's really been years), and states her tag-line "Everything matters!" It's the complete opposite theory of Cliff's. Her essential meaning is that everything we do has an affect on the future, future generations, the overall makeup of things on our planet, etc. Her message could be looked at as kind of good, but the irony lies in the fact that she seems all too excited to step directly into Cliff's shoes and be another meaningless, short-lived role model. In essence Cliff was right when he believed nothing matters and Barbara's time in the spotlight will also fade away. One day neither will be remembered and will have no affect on anything or anyone. Even those that followed them for a brief time will be gone and forgotten. It's a sad story of the media misguiding people to waste their short lives with whatever's popular and meaningless in the moment. But, it also questions, if nothing really matters anyway, SFW.

bob_meg I saw this movie on release ages ago and it's not hard to fall in love with it at first.Stephen Dorff's performance is really amazing. You never think for a moment he isn't Cliff Spab, with all the pent-up rage, pain, hostility and hilarity that it entails.For the first half of the movie, it's really "the Cliff Spab/Stephen Dorff Show." He goes on a sort of Jack Kerouac road trip, bumping heads and rubbing noses with a variety of characters (and some wonderful actors who play them): Jake Busey (a good movie for once), Joey Lauren Adams (always terrific and smokin' hot here), and Pamela Gidley (quite a complex little cameo).But after his odyssey ends, there doesn't seem to be much of a place to go...the film just stalls. I think the intent was for it to be completely character driven, so I wasn't expecting, well, a story-line or anything, but still.... I was hoping for more of a connection between the final scene, Spab's revelations, and the rest of the movie leading up to that point, but it didn't happen.Never read the book, but it sounds like that ending would have made more sense. A movie this dark doesn't deserve a happy ending....a little too tidy, in my opinion. But SFW?

Tuck_Frump The only reason I checked out this movie is because in the credits it states that China Kantner is in this movie. She might have been, but I didn't see her. I loved her in a movie called "The Stoned Age" (1994), so I wanted to see her again. She might have had a very very small role, but it wasn't worth my time watching this movie for a blink. I have never been a Reese Witherspoon fan, but I love Renee Zellweger and I rented "Dazed and Confused" (1993) just to see her, but just like this movie, I was disappointed to find out that she is only in it for a moment. I don't think they should list actors in the credits unless they have prominent roles, and if they do, then maybe the word "bit part" should be next to their names.