I was living in Southern California when this film came out. It wasn't the first choice for me and my group of about five friends; however, it wasn't sold out on that particular Saturday night, so we bought tickets.
To explain the title of this review: While I was living in LA, I had the opportunity to see several films that just didn't make it into wide release. This was one of them; others included The Chocolate Wars (a bit overwrought), Some Girls (very nice work), and Track 29 (just plain weird). I soon grew to appreciate living in SoCal for the ability to see films that don't make it to the rest of the country until they catch them on cable at 3:30 am.
Many of these films probably just didn't play well before the test audiences; hence, no wide release. But Listen to Me was just plain bad, the kind of film that teaches you about filmmaking by showing how not to do it. The acting was inexplicable; the plot, unrealistic (how many college students greet debate with the same enthusiasm they have for football?); the pacing, bumpy; the dialogue, unbelievable. I couldn't shake the impression that what this film needed was somebody with the experience to catch these flaws; instead, Listen to Me seemed like it was made by beginners. The fact that the film's plot deals with such a heavy issue as abortion only highlighted the shallowness of the movie.
And this film pretty much nixed Kirk Cameron's career on the big screen. Make of that what you will.
To explain the title of this review: While I was living in LA, I had the opportunity to see several films that just didn't make it into wide release. This was one of them; others included The Chocolate Wars (a bit overwrought), Some Girls (very nice work), and Track 29 (just plain weird). I soon grew to appreciate living in SoCal for the ability to see films that don't make it to the rest of the country until they catch them on cable at 3:30 am.
Many of these films probably just didn't play well before the test audiences; hence, no wide release. But Listen to Me was just plain bad, the kind of film that teaches you about filmmaking by showing how not to do it. The acting was inexplicable; the plot, unrealistic (how many college students greet debate with the same enthusiasm they have for football?); the pacing, bumpy; the dialogue, unbelievable. I couldn't shake the impression that what this film needed was somebody with the experience to catch these flaws; instead, Listen to Me seemed like it was made by beginners. The fact that the film's plot deals with such a heavy issue as abortion only highlighted the shallowness of the movie.
And this film pretty much nixed Kirk Cameron's career on the big screen. Make of that what you will.