Hurlyburly (1998)

After viewing this picture, I became a big fan of Sean Penn,(Eddie),"The Interpreter",'05, who showed his great acting abilities in playing a very hard role to portray on the screen. Meg Ryan,(Bonnie),"In The Cut",'03, played the role of a dippy blonde who would do anything for Eddie and I mean anything. Robin Wright Penn,(Darlene),"Nine Lives",'05 had the hots for Eddie and Eddie had a ball making love to her quite often during the film. Well, after all, they are husband and wife. Garry Shandling,(Artie),"Town & Country",'01 make a few brief appearances and tried to add some humor to his role, which was so so. This is a very strange story, but is really down to earth and has a cast of great actors who did a fantastic job of presenting way out people all mixed up and high on DRUGS!

Fmovies: a lot of the negative reviews of this movie are a consequence of the viewers simply not enjoying this type of work. it aint a happy movie and its not for everyone. if you've never spent serious time in NYC, LA, SF or some similar city, then you probably do not 1) know and interact with people like this on a regular basis, 2) understand the true to life social context of the scenes/plot or 3) comprehend the use of drugs amongst nearly every ladder rung within certain industries and hence can't recognize that the writer/director is making a parody of it all. the writing is clearly very witty (you try writing it) and if you know people like those portrayed, then you would also see that the acting also first rate. if you don't like this because of its repetitive babble, self absorbed characters, harsh realities and use of nose candy then perhaps you just don't know that this movie is a near documentary. i recommend you visit your friends in any big city and see if you can't get to a few banker / journalist / academic / consulting / advertising / acting parties. experience, re-watch, then review.

For many movie fans who truly love the art of film, a good screenplay is the jeweled movement on which marvelous films turn and pivot. They remain with you as memorable experiences, be they like Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, Gandhi, or The Maltese Falcon. The genre hardly matters; good screen play is an essential in even the action movie. Too bad so much mediocre screen writing abounds when good talent seems so obtainable.

'Hurlyburly' was adapted from the play for the screen by the author. In a word, it is brilliant. The acting is superb in every character, and the casting was perfect. Once again, Sean Penn gives a performance that is indicative of his paramount position as one of the very best actors of his generation — a superlative star given any generation.

I can just imagine that this film has made some pretty bad friends in some quarters — and in both genders. There is no hiding the fact that this sort of world exists to some extent anywhere a group of hedonistic, single males (or men who think that they are still single) gather to hang out, relax or party. But a viewer will be missing the point if she/he thinks that 's all there is — gratuitous, reckless living.

Marshall McLuan's theory of amputation kept occurring to me after watching the film — the idea that with each additional machine in our culture we are being cut off from our humanity. This is a psychodrama that does not resort to the unspoken, latent trauma that lurks in the past to trouble our characters. Something in Eddie is more truncated than broken, and although he doesn't know what it is, he is intensely aware that it is causing him despair, loneliness and pain. The drugs maybe both cause and effect. Beyond the pain itself, he is completely unsure about what he thinks he is supposed to feel. Some considerable irony floats around this issue, and to the director's credit it is revealed with cunning grace.

This film demonstrates that amidst all the lowest common denominating crud, American mainstream cinema is occasionally distributing intriguing works of art. This may not be the film to purposely chose on a sad evening of angst and regret, but if you were to catch it at such a moment, the performances might sweep you up, and the film that was a play could beguile you.

I gave it an unequivocal 10 for the same reasons your movie guide gives 5's for the films that I would love to have in my tape and disk library.

Hurlyburly fmovies. You liked "Glengarry Glen Ross"? You're gonna love THIS one. Kevin Spacey doing his patented "snide" riffs. Anna Paquin growing up and showing some range. Garry Shandling? Who knew? Meg Ryan finally playing something besides America's Sweetheart. Disturbingly funny in some sequences (particularly the Sean Penn-Chazz Palminteri duets) and laugh-out-loud vaudeville in others (the Spacey-Penn cell phone bit is an instant classic). The ensemble cast, with excellent direction, gets all the rhythms of the script. It may look a little over-the-top here and there but it seems to be a conscious choice by the director in this epic send-up of 80's Hollywood excess.

While it's readily apparent that no one is going to go home humming the tunes from this one, it's still a bit surprising that the film garnered no major nominations. Same deal as "Glengarry". Give 'em a great ensemble in a black comedy with no discernible "star", a solid script and inventive direction and be prepared for the icy shoulder at Oscar time. It's an unjust world we live in. This movie deserves a wider audience but owing to the subject matter, it probably won't get one. But I'll give it an 85, Dick. It's got a great beat and you can dance to it!

A touching movie about friendship and dependency viewed through the distorting lens of rampant nihilism.

There's a theatrical eloquence to the dialogue that lends it mesmerizing power. It has a literary quality that some people will find unbearably pretentious, but which I found deeply moving.

The movie starts out with a fast paced barrage of hilarious absurdities. As it gets slower and more ponderous it sometimes veers off course, but in a sense this just deepens the sense of human frailty. Similarly the somewhat grasping conclusion does not significantly detract from the film's main thrust.

Acting by Kevin Spacey, Sean Penn and Garry Shandling is absolutely top notch. Chazz Palminteri isn't always as convincing. Excellent showing by Meg Ryan.

I remember watching Sean Penn walking up to the podium, accepting his Best Actor Academy Award for his (in my opinion) decent and somewhat accomplished role in Mystic River, and thought to myself the award was more of an achievement for his body of work rather than for the particular film. His role in Hurlyburly is far more impressive than the Jersey-speaking gangster in Great Clint's emotional waterfall of a film. I've always been a fan of Hurlyburly since seeing a heavily edited version of it for the first time on UPN years ago, mainly for its writing and acting performances. The entire ensemble is wonderful - Penn, Spacey, and Palminteri especially - and the writing is believable and clear cut, even though I've never met or been exposed to anyone even close to characters like the ones depicted in the film. The low rating on IMDb surprised me, but maybe I can see why the majority of people either don't like or are rather indifferent about the film. The film-making is not ground breaking by any means, but the content and passion exuded from the actors involved stand out amongst other films like it that heavily rely on idiosyncratic and interesting dialogue. I'd like to see Rabe's stage version to see how he nails it - because the movie is a treat for anyone who enjoys a dose of something a bit off-beat and different.