Not really sure what this was. It had some chuckle moments, but nothing terribly funny. The plot jumped around quite a bit, and lacked any cohesiveness. Not sure what the role of Anthony Michael Hall was for. Seemed like it was just added to give him some work. The main male character had a good heart, while the main female lead was mostly a jerk that wasn't very likeable (and also didn't particularly look like a personal trainer). Ultimately, it was quite boring, and I fast-forwarded through the last 10 minutes or so just to see how it ended. Turns out I didn't really care.
42 Reviews
Story line fizzles out, waste of Pearces talent
MdlndeHond5 September 2015
Pearce is phenomenal, as always, If it wasn't for him there was nothing to review. It is not the lack of talent but a dwindling obvious storyline. Smulders character is rather irritating. Her confrontational whimsical personality does not at all gel on screen with Pearce. Smulders plays her part without any subtlety in a storyline that relies on small developments. I get that this is the whole plot line, contradicting personalities etc, but it moves along choppy and forcefully in an effort to match Smulders and Pearce together.The part with the client could have been more useful but it became rather redundant.
Their attempt to be strangely charming did not work.
subxerogravity14 June 2015
I found the movie slightly amusing, but just slightly. It have a few laughs here and there. They attempt to be quirky, and I guess in a since that did work out for them, but the quirky was not all that entertaining.
The movie starts out pretty strong, but once you get half way through, you can feel it lagging, and I just wanted to end. It's a romantic comedy that has not surprises so you know they'll stay with the formula, so there was no need to drag it out, but the filmmakers do.
Which is too bad, because it's worth seeing for the acting talents of Guy Pearce,Cobie Smulders and Kevin Corrigan, but you have too sit through a lot of useless time for that talent.
The movie starts out pretty strong, but once you get half way through, you can feel it lagging, and I just wanted to end. It's a romantic comedy that has not surprises so you know they'll stay with the formula, so there was no need to drag it out, but the filmmakers do.
Which is too bad, because it's worth seeing for the acting talents of Guy Pearce,Cobie Smulders and Kevin Corrigan, but you have too sit through a lot of useless time for that talent.
A booooring little movie. Some people might like it though
Dr_Sagan17 November 2015
This is by all means a "little" simple movie. Nothing spectacular, performance or script-wise.
The direction is boring and slow and the lack of music in most of the scenes makes more obvious the poor script and dialogs.
The spotlight of "who is" the main protagonist is confusing. You may think initially that is Kevin Corrigan (a bad choice for this role) but he isn't. Actually all the characters are mild and seem insignificant.
Cobie Smulders with a large experience in rom-com TV, makes her character a little less flat but in the end her talent is wasted. So are the talents of Guy Pearce and Giovanni Ribisi.
Overall: Very simplistic. Not really cute. Not an actual comedy.
The direction is boring and slow and the lack of music in most of the scenes makes more obvious the poor script and dialogs.
The spotlight of "who is" the main protagonist is confusing. You may think initially that is Kevin Corrigan (a bad choice for this role) but he isn't. Actually all the characters are mild and seem insignificant.
Cobie Smulders with a large experience in rom-com TV, makes her character a little less flat but in the end her talent is wasted. So are the talents of Guy Pearce and Giovanni Ribisi.
Overall: Very simplistic. Not really cute. Not an actual comedy.
Mumblecore goes mainstream and fails miserably
bob_meg28 June 2015
There are a few directors and writers who can get away with engaging character portraits containing little or no plot elements. Robert Altman and Noah Baumbach come to mind but they are also masters at integrating all elements of a film, so even if the narrative seems unfocused, you still get a sense of cohesion and purpose.
Andrew Bujalski is not in their league and that's a shame. When I looked up his list of credits on IMDb I noticed his debut film from 2002, Funny Ha Ha, which was at the heart of the burgeoning Mumblecore movement, and which I liked a lot. Mumblecore was a school of filmmaking that took a hard left from organically structured films like Richard Linklater's Slacker, and then pushed the freeform structure ever further, relying a lot on improvisation, real-time character development, and actor camaraderie.
Results has all the ingredients of a mainstream Mumblecore movie that should work (great actors, fun premise), yet it doesn't, simply because Bujalski appears to be either totally checked out of the project or perhaps he shot and wrote the movie as cooked as Kevin Corrigan's character appears to be for most of the film.
I'll try to summarize the plot but it's difficult because this film has little in cohesion or logic --- characters make random choices that should be funny, quirky, or odd but only come across as tedious and contrived. Anthony Michael Hall's (in yet another odd, spaced-out walk-on performance, similar to his role in Foxcatcher) character is just such an example. Apparently Hall's physique fit the movie but his character could have been ANYONE... he is yet another sounding board for Guy Pierce and Cobie Smulders on-again/off-again romantic ping pong match that's as boring and pointless as everything else in this train wreck of a movie.
According to most services that try to summarize this movie, it's thrust is Pierce and Smulders, as fitness Nazis so strident in their cult-like beliefs at times that they are almost parodies of themselves, are hired to get Corrigan's rich, depressed butt in shape. Results really doesn't do anything of the sort.
I still can't understand why this movie has received consistently high ratings from critics. The film isn't even shot or cut well. Just when the film appears to be going somewhere it swerves violently into nowheres-ville. This isn't daring maverick work, it's just sloppy and incompetent and an insult to most of the actors in it's fine cast --- not to mention a somewhat dirty trick as it passes itself off as a mainstream film that has virtually nothing to offer a mainstream audience. At least with Funny Ha Ha, indie audiences knew they were getting anything but.
Andrew Bujalski is not in their league and that's a shame. When I looked up his list of credits on IMDb I noticed his debut film from 2002, Funny Ha Ha, which was at the heart of the burgeoning Mumblecore movement, and which I liked a lot. Mumblecore was a school of filmmaking that took a hard left from organically structured films like Richard Linklater's Slacker, and then pushed the freeform structure ever further, relying a lot on improvisation, real-time character development, and actor camaraderie.
Results has all the ingredients of a mainstream Mumblecore movie that should work (great actors, fun premise), yet it doesn't, simply because Bujalski appears to be either totally checked out of the project or perhaps he shot and wrote the movie as cooked as Kevin Corrigan's character appears to be for most of the film.
I'll try to summarize the plot but it's difficult because this film has little in cohesion or logic --- characters make random choices that should be funny, quirky, or odd but only come across as tedious and contrived. Anthony Michael Hall's (in yet another odd, spaced-out walk-on performance, similar to his role in Foxcatcher) character is just such an example. Apparently Hall's physique fit the movie but his character could have been ANYONE... he is yet another sounding board for Guy Pierce and Cobie Smulders on-again/off-again romantic ping pong match that's as boring and pointless as everything else in this train wreck of a movie.
According to most services that try to summarize this movie, it's thrust is Pierce and Smulders, as fitness Nazis so strident in their cult-like beliefs at times that they are almost parodies of themselves, are hired to get Corrigan's rich, depressed butt in shape. Results really doesn't do anything of the sort.
I still can't understand why this movie has received consistently high ratings from critics. The film isn't even shot or cut well. Just when the film appears to be going somewhere it swerves violently into nowheres-ville. This isn't daring maverick work, it's just sloppy and incompetent and an insult to most of the actors in it's fine cast --- not to mention a somewhat dirty trick as it passes itself off as a mainstream film that has virtually nothing to offer a mainstream audience. At least with Funny Ha Ha, indie audiences knew they were getting anything but.
Unconventionally slow but unique and funny.
Rendanlovell9 December 2015
Results stars Guy Pearce, Cobie Smulders, and Kevin Corrigan. Pearce and Smulders play personal trainers for an up and coming gym called Fit 4 Life. The film more or less revolves around these two. They are enjoying a decently profitable business when a bored multimillionaire (Corrigan) decides that he should try and lose some weight. So, Fit 4 Life takes him on as a client. Despite their better judgment of course. Needless to say 'Results' plays by it's own set of rules. Rules that many films today are to safe to even attempt.
But this is why this film is so compelling. It feels real because there is so much that separates it from everything else. Easily, the best part of this film is in its cast. The best of the bunch being Pearce. He plays the ambitious owner of Fit 4 Life. A man that genuinely wants to do good. Even though he may not be able to get that point across without stumbling over himself countless times. But every one else does a great job as well.
This may be due to impressive character writing. Few films these days put this amount of effort into molding its characters. The main three all may seem to have the same problems but it's how they handle these problems that's so compelling. Each one deals with their mid life crisis in different ways. Corrigan can't help but buy anything and everything that he thinks he needs. And Smulders jumps between jobs and men equally, in a sad attempt to try and give her life some meaning.
But the back bone of 'Results' resides in its rom com structure. The film approaches this genre of film from a different direction that easily reinvigorates its familiar story line. With its impressively drawn characters at its back 'Results' hits some ludicrously funny marks. It offers a well drawn, sharp script that basks in its own awkward set pieces and dialogue.
The problem with 'Results' is that the film seems to come to a head not quite halfway through the film. After this hilarious climax everything afterwards just feels like an after thought. So, nearly half of this film feels tacked on. While it wasn't noticeably bad it was certainly harder to focus on the film. Saying that this film moves at its own pace is an understatement. At best it's uneven and worst, sluggish.
'Results' is not a bad film. It's funny, fresh, and offers fleshed out characters that are performed perfectly by its cast. But, 'Results' may a bit to unconventional for its own good. It moves at an uncomfortably slow pace that is often to sluggish for its own good.
But this is why this film is so compelling. It feels real because there is so much that separates it from everything else. Easily, the best part of this film is in its cast. The best of the bunch being Pearce. He plays the ambitious owner of Fit 4 Life. A man that genuinely wants to do good. Even though he may not be able to get that point across without stumbling over himself countless times. But every one else does a great job as well.
This may be due to impressive character writing. Few films these days put this amount of effort into molding its characters. The main three all may seem to have the same problems but it's how they handle these problems that's so compelling. Each one deals with their mid life crisis in different ways. Corrigan can't help but buy anything and everything that he thinks he needs. And Smulders jumps between jobs and men equally, in a sad attempt to try and give her life some meaning.
But the back bone of 'Results' resides in its rom com structure. The film approaches this genre of film from a different direction that easily reinvigorates its familiar story line. With its impressively drawn characters at its back 'Results' hits some ludicrously funny marks. It offers a well drawn, sharp script that basks in its own awkward set pieces and dialogue.
The problem with 'Results' is that the film seems to come to a head not quite halfway through the film. After this hilarious climax everything afterwards just feels like an after thought. So, nearly half of this film feels tacked on. While it wasn't noticeably bad it was certainly harder to focus on the film. Saying that this film moves at its own pace is an understatement. At best it's uneven and worst, sluggish.
'Results' is not a bad film. It's funny, fresh, and offers fleshed out characters that are performed perfectly by its cast. But, 'Results' may a bit to unconventional for its own good. It moves at an uncomfortably slow pace that is often to sluggish for its own good.
Couldn't finish this crap of a movie
ghadiry3 September 2016
Not a comedy, no plot, just random insignificant stories pieced poorly together with very amateur filmography and acting. The acting is so poor at times you wonder who you should blame, I guess it's the poor screenplay. The filming is so bad that it offends an intelligent audience. Poor camera angels, the sex scenes... Characters are super shallow... 1 hour into the movie you wouldn't know who the main character is, or where the movie is going, long boring scenes of dialogues which are neither funny nor important.... I could not bare to watch it to the end. DON'T WASTE TIME ON THIS MOVIE! Why does IMDb force you to write 10 lines of text to review a movie like this is beyond me! I'm only writing this to save the time of millions of other movie watchers.
Not everyone's cup of chia tea latte, but still a pretty good film
The_late_Buddy_Ryan12 December 2015
Action stars Cobie Smulders and Guy Pearce get a chance to stretch as "musclebound rageaholics" (fitness coaches Kat and Trevor) in this rambling but clever comedy. The film's real hero, however, is Danny (Kevin Corrigan), a rich, schlumpfy client who likes to spread his money around in a helpful way—reminded me a little of the Weenie King in "The Palm Beach Story."
I can see why "Results" made it onto NY Times critic A.O. Scott's ten-best list*; I can also see why so many online commenters found it annoying and boring For one thing, writer/director Andrew Bujalski lets his mumblecore roots show by intercutting long, talky scenes with odd bits of indie filler (Kat does isometrics, Trevor plays with his dog) that don't do much to advance the plot.
After a very good start—while it still seems like Danny's going to be the main character—the pacing starts to lag with a couple of subtle plot maneuvers that are well thought out but not all that involving. Luckily Kat pulls it all together in a great screwball-comedy set piece, an everything-on-the-table business dinner with Russian "kettlebell guru" Anthony Michael Hall. Truth be told, Pearce and Smulders don't have a whole lot of chemistry, so they do just fine as conflicted exes; it's not all that satisfying when they finally get together. Fans of "Punch-Drunk Love" may enjoy this one too; others not attuned to the indie sensibility should exercise caution.
* More recently, a couple of Times critics put Corrigan and Pearce (both for best supporting) and Bujalski's screenplay on their lists of perfect-world Oscar noms.
I can see why "Results" made it onto NY Times critic A.O. Scott's ten-best list*; I can also see why so many online commenters found it annoying and boring For one thing, writer/director Andrew Bujalski lets his mumblecore roots show by intercutting long, talky scenes with odd bits of indie filler (Kat does isometrics, Trevor plays with his dog) that don't do much to advance the plot.
After a very good start—while it still seems like Danny's going to be the main character—the pacing starts to lag with a couple of subtle plot maneuvers that are well thought out but not all that involving. Luckily Kat pulls it all together in a great screwball-comedy set piece, an everything-on-the-table business dinner with Russian "kettlebell guru" Anthony Michael Hall. Truth be told, Pearce and Smulders don't have a whole lot of chemistry, so they do just fine as conflicted exes; it's not all that satisfying when they finally get together. Fans of "Punch-Drunk Love" may enjoy this one too; others not attuned to the indie sensibility should exercise caution.
* More recently, a couple of Times critics put Corrigan and Pearce (both for best supporting) and Bujalski's screenplay on their lists of perfect-world Oscar noms.
Watchable but not that much depth! 3/10
leonblackwood3 October 2015
Review: I thought that I would give this movie a chance because I like Guy Pearce's movie and now that I've watched it, I'm in two minds with the end result. Its about a man called Danny (Kevin Corrigan) who becomes rich after inheriting money from his mother and he goes to his local gym to become fit and be able to take a punch. After talking to the gym owner Trevor (Guy Pearce) he is given a personal gymnast, Kat (Cobie Smulders) who goes to his house to put him through some intense training. After a while, the somewhat lonely and depressed Danny, falls for Kat but her professionalism and gruesome attitude, false her to cancel the sessions. While all this is going on, Trevor is planning to expand his gym business by opening another branch but Danny threatens to sue, because of Kats behaviour. After an intense confrontation between Danny and Trevor, they soon become close friends but once Danny finds out that Trevor is in love with Kat as well, a love triangle emerges and there relationships between each other become questionable. Personally I thought that it was a pointless movie but it's light hearted fun without much depth. Everyone put in a good performance and it was good to see a comedic side to Guy Pearce but Kevin Corrigan's acting was a bit weird. I didn't really see the point of Giovanni Ribisi's character, who played the lawyer with not that many lines and the movie seemed to drift into a love story which was a bit of a let down. Anyway, it's a watchable movie with a few enjoyable moments but I won't be watching it again anytime soon. Average!
Round-Up: Guy Pearce, 47, starred in over 400 episodes of Neighbours and 18 episodes of Home & Away before taking the lead in the movie Flynn in 1993. He then starred as Felicia in the Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which was an outstanding performance and through 1993 - 1996 he starred in the TV series Snowy River. In 1997 he came back to the big screen with another brilliant performance in L.A. Confidential and after a few small movies, he took the lead in Memento in 2000. After a couple of years break he took the lead in the Count of Monte Carlo alongside Jim Caviesel and the disappointing Time Machine and I was impressed with his role in the Proposition in 2005. He then seemed to have gone under the radar with some low budget movies, until 2008 when he hit the big time with movies like Fragments, Traitor, Bedtime Stories and the award winning Hurt Locker. Since then he has become a bankable star with his roles in The King's Speech, Lockout, Lawless, Prometheus, and Ironman 3 and he has put in great performances in small budget movies like the great Animal Kingdom, the Rover, the Road, Justice and 33 Postcards. I personally rate him as an actor because he has proved that he can cover any genre. He does seem a bit distance and moody in a lot of his movies but his performances are always top form. Although he has starred in big movies through his career, he is one of the lucky actors that have managed to stay out of the tabloids so he can concentrate on giving a top performance in all of his movies. Anyway, this movie was directed by Andrew Bujalski whose only made 7 low budget movies in his career. You can tell that he had a small budget to make this movie but he did have some too class actors to work with, so he could have spent some more time on making the script a bit more meaningful.
I recommend this movie to people who are into their comedy/drama movies about a rich man who goes to the gym to get fit and ends up falling in love with his trainer. 3/10
Round-Up: Guy Pearce, 47, starred in over 400 episodes of Neighbours and 18 episodes of Home & Away before taking the lead in the movie Flynn in 1993. He then starred as Felicia in the Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, which was an outstanding performance and through 1993 - 1996 he starred in the TV series Snowy River. In 1997 he came back to the big screen with another brilliant performance in L.A. Confidential and after a few small movies, he took the lead in Memento in 2000. After a couple of years break he took the lead in the Count of Monte Carlo alongside Jim Caviesel and the disappointing Time Machine and I was impressed with his role in the Proposition in 2005. He then seemed to have gone under the radar with some low budget movies, until 2008 when he hit the big time with movies like Fragments, Traitor, Bedtime Stories and the award winning Hurt Locker. Since then he has become a bankable star with his roles in The King's Speech, Lockout, Lawless, Prometheus, and Ironman 3 and he has put in great performances in small budget movies like the great Animal Kingdom, the Rover, the Road, Justice and 33 Postcards. I personally rate him as an actor because he has proved that he can cover any genre. He does seem a bit distance and moody in a lot of his movies but his performances are always top form. Although he has starred in big movies through his career, he is one of the lucky actors that have managed to stay out of the tabloids so he can concentrate on giving a top performance in all of his movies. Anyway, this movie was directed by Andrew Bujalski whose only made 7 low budget movies in his career. You can tell that he had a small budget to make this movie but he did have some too class actors to work with, so he could have spent some more time on making the script a bit more meaningful.
I recommend this movie to people who are into their comedy/drama movies about a rich man who goes to the gym to get fit and ends up falling in love with his trainer. 3/10
Quirky & Unpredictable
larrys31 October 2015
This quirky and unpredictable comedy, I would imagine, will not appeal to everyone but it had enough droll humor and charm for me to end up liking it. The 3 leads here Guy Pearce, Kobie Smulders, and Kevin Corrigan, I thought were all excellent in their particular roles.
Smulders captures the screen portraying Kat, an intense, sexy, and volatile personal trainer working for Power 4 Life gym, located in Austin, Texas. The fine actor Pearce plays Trevor the owner of the gym, who's extremely serious about fitness and expanding his business. He's once had an affair with Kat, and they clearly have chemistry between them, but they can't seem to really connect on the same wave length.
Along comes Danny (Corrigan) as a walk-in to the gym. He's a strange guy who's looking to improve on his out of shape and nebishy persona. He's just been through a divorce, but unexpectedly has inherited a windfall from his estranged mother who has died. When Kat is assigned to him as his personal trainer, Danny develops a fixation about her, which will lead down paths I didn't expect.
All in all, there are a number of aspects of this movie that surprised me, but it does strain credibility at times, for sure. It's not a laugh-out-loud type comedy but more droll and cerebral, and this may not appeal to some viewers. The film, written and directed by Andrew Bujalski, ended up winning me over with its good performances, quirky humor, and an upbeat finish.
Smulders captures the screen portraying Kat, an intense, sexy, and volatile personal trainer working for Power 4 Life gym, located in Austin, Texas. The fine actor Pearce plays Trevor the owner of the gym, who's extremely serious about fitness and expanding his business. He's once had an affair with Kat, and they clearly have chemistry between them, but they can't seem to really connect on the same wave length.
Along comes Danny (Corrigan) as a walk-in to the gym. He's a strange guy who's looking to improve on his out of shape and nebishy persona. He's just been through a divorce, but unexpectedly has inherited a windfall from his estranged mother who has died. When Kat is assigned to him as his personal trainer, Danny develops a fixation about her, which will lead down paths I didn't expect.
All in all, there are a number of aspects of this movie that surprised me, but it does strain credibility at times, for sure. It's not a laugh-out-loud type comedy but more droll and cerebral, and this may not appeal to some viewers. The film, written and directed by Andrew Bujalski, ended up winning me over with its good performances, quirky humor, and an upbeat finish.
Boring and confounding
Groverdox31 July 2016
"Results" is one of those tedious, quirky indie flicks with no in-built audience. Worse still, I had a fear it was intended as a comedy, and IMDb confirms this. It's not enough to say that there are no laughs in the movie. There's no humour. Nothing connects as though it is supposed to be funny. It's like another recent movie, "Drinking Buddies". That too was about people talking and doing boring things together, none of it of any interest to the viewer.
You have to be careful about the word "weird" when describing something you don't like. A lot of weird movies are fascinating: most of David Lynch's or Cronenberg's repertoire, for example. "Results" and "Drinking Buddies" are not weird in themselves. It is, however, weird that their makers would expect anyone would want to watch them. Seeing a group of people enjoy this movie would be as bizarre as having a group of people stare enthralled at a hole in the wall for seven hours.
You have to be careful about the word "weird" when describing something you don't like. A lot of weird movies are fascinating: most of David Lynch's or Cronenberg's repertoire, for example. "Results" and "Drinking Buddies" are not weird in themselves. It is, however, weird that their makers would expect anyone would want to watch them. Seeing a group of people enjoy this movie would be as bizarre as having a group of people stare enthralled at a hole in the wall for seven hours.
Sneak attack comedy
cliftonofun27 December 2017
Wesley Morris (man, I miss reading his reviews on Grantland every week) called this movie "sneak attack romance." It is also sneak attack comedy and character development. But the story never feels forced. Maybe that's the nuanced performances or maybe it's the little moments that make the whole thing feel genuine. I did not know these movies were still getting made, honestly. I'm glad they are. They make you laugh without punchlines, and that should not be so rare.
Work Hard, Play Hard, and Still Be Unhappy
evanston_dad3 October 2016
Netflix's streaming service can be a vast wasteland, but it can also be good for finding off the beaten path films that never would have played at any theater near me and that I might not wanted to have spent $10 on if they did. I've discovered a few real gems this way, as well as waded through some muck. "Results" is not a gem, but it has quite a bit to recommend it.
I get tired of overly-scripted, overly-serious, over-produced studio films about BIG and IMPORTANT themes, so it's nice to come across films with laid back, indie vibes, about "regular" people dealing with the daily act of living, and that's what "Results" is. Kevin Corrigan is Danny, a depressed schlub who hires Kat, a personal trainer (Cobie Smulders) who works at a gym run by Trevor (Guy Pearce), with whom she previously had a fling. Things get uncomfortable when Danny and Kat's professional relationship crosses the boundary into the too personal, forcing Kat and Trevor to face some emotions that both have been trying to ignore.
This might all sound overly scripted, but it doesn't feel that way as it plays out. It feels loose and even rambling at times, and indeed one of my biggest complaints about the film is that it can't seem to decide who its main character is. But what I did like about the screenplay was its ability to upend our suppositions about these characters and the kind of people they represent. At first, our sympathies lie with Kat and Trevor at the sake of Danny. They're attractive, fit, ambitious, everything we're told people who are in charge of their lives should be. Danny is weird, kind of creepy, ugly, dumpy. But as the film evolves, Kat and Trevor find that they have as much if not more to learn from Danny than he has from them, and that a life driven by striving for striving's sake isn't the path to inner peace and contentment, no matter how many power smoothies you drink or articles of Under Armour clothing you wear.
Guy Pearce is one of my favorite actors, and he's really good in this film, doing a lot with material that another actor might not have been able to sell as well. Corrigan is the other standout, giving a minor miracle of a comedic performance, slowly winning the audience over until he almost makes us believe that being out of shape and stoned is what we should all aspire to. Smulders is the one who left me cold. She never makes Kat likable and very frequently makes her annoying. The best scenes in the film are those between Pearce and Corrigan, where Mulders isn't present at all.
Giovanni Ribisi appears here and there in a pointless role as a pothead attorney.
Grade: B+
I get tired of overly-scripted, overly-serious, over-produced studio films about BIG and IMPORTANT themes, so it's nice to come across films with laid back, indie vibes, about "regular" people dealing with the daily act of living, and that's what "Results" is. Kevin Corrigan is Danny, a depressed schlub who hires Kat, a personal trainer (Cobie Smulders) who works at a gym run by Trevor (Guy Pearce), with whom she previously had a fling. Things get uncomfortable when Danny and Kat's professional relationship crosses the boundary into the too personal, forcing Kat and Trevor to face some emotions that both have been trying to ignore.
This might all sound overly scripted, but it doesn't feel that way as it plays out. It feels loose and even rambling at times, and indeed one of my biggest complaints about the film is that it can't seem to decide who its main character is. But what I did like about the screenplay was its ability to upend our suppositions about these characters and the kind of people they represent. At first, our sympathies lie with Kat and Trevor at the sake of Danny. They're attractive, fit, ambitious, everything we're told people who are in charge of their lives should be. Danny is weird, kind of creepy, ugly, dumpy. But as the film evolves, Kat and Trevor find that they have as much if not more to learn from Danny than he has from them, and that a life driven by striving for striving's sake isn't the path to inner peace and contentment, no matter how many power smoothies you drink or articles of Under Armour clothing you wear.
Guy Pearce is one of my favorite actors, and he's really good in this film, doing a lot with material that another actor might not have been able to sell as well. Corrigan is the other standout, giving a minor miracle of a comedic performance, slowly winning the audience over until he almost makes us believe that being out of shape and stoned is what we should all aspire to. Smulders is the one who left me cold. She never makes Kat likable and very frequently makes her annoying. The best scenes in the film are those between Pearce and Corrigan, where Mulders isn't present at all.
Giovanni Ribisi appears here and there in a pointless role as a pothead attorney.
Grade: B+
I wouldn't waste my time
dc-physics3 September 2021
Nothing redeeming
wilhelmdanielg25 March 2022
I like the actors in this film, and the other works that they've been a part of. However this film felt so... bland. None of the characters are interesting, lots of the scenes feel forced, the dialogue leaves something to be desired, and quite frankly it was hard to even finish it.
A Real Workout
scythertitus7 March 2019
This film is quite an endurance watch due to the frustration of witnessing emotionally stunted people attempting to interact throughout. It can get tiresome and in some ways makes little sense, but the acting is good and the story is self-contained and generally enjoyable.
What this movie has going for it is that it doesn't follow a generic plot line. Yiu aren't sure what moves characters will make from one beat to the next and just like life certain things are dropped without a satisfying resoultion and others end up being much more significant than you would have first thought. Some people will love this, others will hate it.
Overall this movie is for people who enjoy real life story telling rather than Hollywood entertainment. It's doing its own thing and that is either a merit or an annoyance depending on your tastes, the only thing that is jarring either way is Guy Pearce's Australian accent.
What this movie has going for it is that it doesn't follow a generic plot line. Yiu aren't sure what moves characters will make from one beat to the next and just like life certain things are dropped without a satisfying resoultion and others end up being much more significant than you would have first thought. Some people will love this, others will hate it.
Overall this movie is for people who enjoy real life story telling rather than Hollywood entertainment. It's doing its own thing and that is either a merit or an annoyance depending on your tastes, the only thing that is jarring either way is Guy Pearce's Australian accent.
It was just a watchable movie ,, a bit predictable, really not much to expect.
Aktham_Tashtush5 June 2015
Well it started a bit slow, the plot it grows gradually until it peaks when Danny makes the surprising romantic dinner for Kat but there were absolutely no comedy bits before that for 40-50 minutes and as for a comedy genre movie this would really ruin the structure of the movie and distracted me a lot while i was so drastically trying to find a scene i could laugh at. It went all drama and just a little romance here and it was so expected the storyline itself got no surprises or any catchy flipping scenes . ,, and that was that.
As for the cast; they were all engaging but not that role attractive if i might say, Guy Pearce and Kevin Corrigan were good when i saw Cobie Smulders names on the poster i expected it to be a How i met your mother good ,, but nope .. not even a 10% of the comedy.
Overall, i watched .. yep it happened ,, but would i recommend it to my bitter nemesis .. hell yeah :D if i want him to die out of boredom .. okay maybe not that much .. but still don't expect a lot out of it.
As for the cast; they were all engaging but not that role attractive if i might say, Guy Pearce and Kevin Corrigan were good when i saw Cobie Smulders names on the poster i expected it to be a How i met your mother good ,, but nope .. not even a 10% of the comedy.
Overall, i watched .. yep it happened ,, but would i recommend it to my bitter nemesis .. hell yeah :D if i want him to die out of boredom .. okay maybe not that much .. but still don't expect a lot out of it.
All pain no gain
j_smith_729 May 2015
Warning: Spoilers
I'll kick off by saying any film with the Anglo-Australian actor Guy Pearce in it will always draw me toward watching. He's that rarest of things - an actor who can act. An actor who is a bona fide film star. A bone fide film star who has achieved his status by rejecting Hollywood. In short, hats off to Guy Pearce.
This film is a slow burn. Indeed, it's a bit of a tiresome slow burn. Contrary to most films which move at this slow a speed but which make sure they reveal some depth to the characters, we come to learn less about the characters in this movie as it progresses. Or, rather, and perhaps more accurately, we care less. Their 'inner turmoil' and 'hurting' are all self-inflcited and, were we to meet people like this in real life, we may very well be tempted to give them a kick in the behookey and tell them to get a grip.
The ridiculously named Cobie Smulders plays the ridiculously named 'Kat'. She's a fitness instructor who possesses an excellent physical appearance but a sour and bitter emotional one. She works for Trevor (Pearce). She's also his ex-lover who becomes his lover again. That's what 104 minutes of this film tells us. Not much else that interests us happens.
In the middle of this is Danny (Kevin Corrigan) a 'got-rich-quick' pot smoking no mark of a man. The plot stumbles for a short time around a flash in the pan sexual contact between Kat and Danny. It was never going to be interesting and resulted in exactly that.
In addition, there's some Soviet weight-lifting guy, Grigory (Anthony Michael Hall - who was great in Aftermath [2013]), who appears to have nothing to do with anything which comes before his appearance in this movie, and precisely zero to do with all that follows it.
In short, the script is rambling and was clearly written from the point of view 'Hey, we got nothing to lose'. And, doggedly, it stays on that road - chasing after imaginary shadows with nothing to lose because there was nothing there to start with. The direction is average. The cinematography sufficient. Locations anonymous. Supporting cast immediately forgettable.
So, what are we left with? We're back where I started - Guy Pearce. And it's to his credit that this film keeps the viewer watching from the beginning to the end. Because he's the talent here. He adds the clever guitar solo to a dull, lacking in melody B-side of a movie.
6 out of 10 - thanks Guy.
This film is a slow burn. Indeed, it's a bit of a tiresome slow burn. Contrary to most films which move at this slow a speed but which make sure they reveal some depth to the characters, we come to learn less about the characters in this movie as it progresses. Or, rather, and perhaps more accurately, we care less. Their 'inner turmoil' and 'hurting' are all self-inflcited and, were we to meet people like this in real life, we may very well be tempted to give them a kick in the behookey and tell them to get a grip.
The ridiculously named Cobie Smulders plays the ridiculously named 'Kat'. She's a fitness instructor who possesses an excellent physical appearance but a sour and bitter emotional one. She works for Trevor (Pearce). She's also his ex-lover who becomes his lover again. That's what 104 minutes of this film tells us. Not much else that interests us happens.
In the middle of this is Danny (Kevin Corrigan) a 'got-rich-quick' pot smoking no mark of a man. The plot stumbles for a short time around a flash in the pan sexual contact between Kat and Danny. It was never going to be interesting and resulted in exactly that.
In addition, there's some Soviet weight-lifting guy, Grigory (Anthony Michael Hall - who was great in Aftermath [2013]), who appears to have nothing to do with anything which comes before his appearance in this movie, and precisely zero to do with all that follows it.
In short, the script is rambling and was clearly written from the point of view 'Hey, we got nothing to lose'. And, doggedly, it stays on that road - chasing after imaginary shadows with nothing to lose because there was nothing there to start with. The direction is average. The cinematography sufficient. Locations anonymous. Supporting cast immediately forgettable.
So, what are we left with? We're back where I started - Guy Pearce. And it's to his credit that this film keeps the viewer watching from the beginning to the end. Because he's the talent here. He adds the clever guitar solo to a dull, lacking in melody B-side of a movie.
6 out of 10 - thanks Guy.
Not a comedy and poorly produced
indiedavid25 August 2019
Not sure why the Producers thought to classify this as a comedy but it is actually a very sad film about an ensemble of dark, emotionally unstable people with no direction in life. There is no plot, the story just follows their lives and has no conclusion. I almost turned it off several times because of the amateur cinematography. The DP should invest in a gimbal. The Directory should know better.
FIT FOR FUN
MadamWarden19 December 2019
Verbose, pointless, ....
PeterHerrmann8 March 2021
... , nothing happens, not funny and I didn't really like the characters. Not to imply that I disliked the characters ... they were just totally bland and of no interest. The humor fell flat imho. I often like movies or books that are lengthy orwordy or require patience, as long as they seem to be going somewhere or have some intellectual content or other redeeming feature. This movie did not.
Quirky. Unpredictable.
SwollenThumb16 April 2018
Cant live with or without you...
imseeg9 December 2019
Quite odd and quirky story about the problems men have in dating / loving / relating to women. The scene of the men and women meeting each other is a fitness club. Different men have different problems understanding / loving women, which are quite comically enhanced, which makes for a rather nice movie.
Feels like a throwaway. No drama. No suspense. Some (tongue in cheek) jokes. But most of all LOTS and LOTS of men and women who cant seem to live with or without each other...
Feels like a throwaway. No drama. No suspense. Some (tongue in cheek) jokes. But most of all LOTS and LOTS of men and women who cant seem to live with or without each other...
Slow throughout
treaci3 November 2020
A complex movie which I personally couldn't grasp. It was a bit too slow for me, and all over the place, the scenes didn't blend smoothly from one to the next. It was like someone driving a manual car for the first time.
I have a love/ hate relationship with Pearce, Some of his movies are brilliant others not so much. In this one though, I thought his character was rather subdued. I did make it to the end, but I wish I had of chosen a differing movie.
I have a love/ hate relationship with Pearce, Some of his movies are brilliant others not so much. In this one though, I thought his character was rather subdued. I did make it to the end, but I wish I had of chosen a differing movie.
Bland romantic comedy with chaotic script.
suite9221 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
The Three Acts:
The initial tableau: At his local gym, rich but out of shape Danny gets directed to the owner, Trevor. Trevor interviews Danny, then sets up a schedule with Lorenzo for Danny. Kat (Trevor's former lover) talks Trevor into letting Danny be her client instead.
Delineation of conflicts: Kat and Trevor are still attracted to each other, but Trevor wants Kat at arm's length since they are so mismatched. Danny wants to be with Kat, but Kat does not want to be with him. Trevor wants to expand his business, but has all these chaotic elements to deal with. Danny seems to be embracing discipline (diet and exercise, supposedly), but he shows little impulse control (giant TV, newly purchased classic guitar, huge house, weed, paying the gym a year in advance, views sample exercise videos as porn, pays a young man 300 USD to connect up his TV, and so on). Add in some throw away characters with the attendant noise.
Resolution: Things move forward slowly in jumps, as in 'where did that come from?'
The initial tableau: At his local gym, rich but out of shape Danny gets directed to the owner, Trevor. Trevor interviews Danny, then sets up a schedule with Lorenzo for Danny. Kat (Trevor's former lover) talks Trevor into letting Danny be her client instead.
Delineation of conflicts: Kat and Trevor are still attracted to each other, but Trevor wants Kat at arm's length since they are so mismatched. Danny wants to be with Kat, but Kat does not want to be with him. Trevor wants to expand his business, but has all these chaotic elements to deal with. Danny seems to be embracing discipline (diet and exercise, supposedly), but he shows little impulse control (giant TV, newly purchased classic guitar, huge house, weed, paying the gym a year in advance, views sample exercise videos as porn, pays a young man 300 USD to connect up his TV, and so on). Add in some throw away characters with the attendant noise.
Resolution: Things move forward slowly in jumps, as in 'where did that come from?'
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