Merolliv
I really wanted to like this movie. I feel terribly cynical trashing it, and that's why I'm giving it a middling 5. Actually, I'm giving it a 5 because there were some superb performances.
Jemima
It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.
Beulah Bram
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
rsoonsa
Four men, displeased with the overcrowded, under lit and noisy night club where they gather, decide to pool their funds in order to open a bar and grill, taking with them from their old hangout two favoured employees, bartender Freddie (Kohl Suddeth) and doorman Xavier (Luis Guzmán), but the entrepreneurs soon learn that the success toward which they look forward is elusive. Because their original seed funding - $100,000 - is insufficient, Freddie persuades a family member, mobster Frankie "Chips" (Bert Young), to contribute a matching amount, but after a successful opening night, the business suffers a sharp dip in receipts. The quartet is then forced to yield to a suggestion from Frankie that their type of operation be changed to an adult cabaret featuring topless dancers and, despite the vigorous objections from one of the original partners, played by a rather hammy David Herman, the new operation becomes an immediate hit, although there are expected comedic complications. The actors are well cast for the texture established by first time director Michael Bregman and the film is shot in great part at the Lucerne Hotel and its Wilson's Grill and Bar in New York City's upper West Side, while Kohl, Michael Rooker, and Guzmán give notably strong performances, the latter smoothly handling a voice-over track. Bregman's background in television is plainly apparent throughout the piece, particularly pertinent to editing. A highly episodic work, it is smoothly constructed and it is obvious that all involved have a good time along the way, with the salad of subplots blended into a film having about it a feeling of good nature.
supercygnus
This was a pain to sit through, and you'll find it quite trying for every mind numbingly uncool moment in this movie of supposedly "cool" guys. The acting all around is embarrassing (even great character actor Guzman is uncharacteristically inept here) and the production values are distractingly cheap. Perhapd most irritating here is the usually funny David Herman (Office Space) who portrays one of the most obnoxious lead characters of any genre in a long time. Stephen Baldwin breezes in and out coasting on the fumes of his once great charisma to collect his paycheck and look smug. This is recommended only as an endurance test for masochistic viewers hell bent on finishing any movie they start (and I guess in this case I am one of the troubled few). This type of film has been done better ("MADE" by Jon Favreau, lesser similar but just similar enough "SWINGERS" and "FREE ENTERPRISE") so why not watch one of those instead?
TheVid
This is basically a bunch of New York fellas fraternizing at a posh martini bar, but a wisely chosen cast make the whole affair a genuine pleasure to watch. Subdued humor and keen comic timing gives this one an edge that overcomes it's theatricality and sitcom-style setting. Worth a look for the standout performance of Luiz Guzman, one of the screen's most underappreciated character actors. Delightful.
George Parker
"Table One" tells of bunch of guys who go partners in a trendy restaurant with the hope that it will help them connect with available women. The motley crew involves the usual diversity required for comic relief (a gay guy, a gangster guy, a sports guy, a wacky guy, a straight man, etc) while 95% of the run takes place in the restaurant with the story moving from one sitcom scene to another. Uninspired, ordinary fare which is busily relaxed in its approach to comedy, "Table One" has little to fault and little to praise. A reasonably pleasant couch potato diversion. (C+)
