I finally sat down and watched this movie for the first time yesterday. I remember back when it was all the hype thirteen years ago and everyone was raving about it. Honestly, everything below is pretty much my review. I get why the takes back in 2010 were way softer—probably because there was such a massive inflation of war and political dramas back then—but looking at it now, over a decade later, I’m just left feeling disappointed. It feels like a total genre identity crisis, which, honestly, seems to be a recurring issue in other American films too... I can almost see the trademark "Priest's kids" vibe popping up everywhere. I went into this thinking it would be some feel-good little comedy with a bit of that classic Small Town, USA atmosphere, but for that to work, the lead should have been way more likable, along with his love interest. The Duke is okay, I guess, but Olga felt like a seriously bad miscast to me. I really feel for people like Zarko Potocnjak who actually have talent but are forced to act out this kind of garbage. His character... I'm speechless. First, they play him off as just some drunk, and then, in some insane writerly "umami" twist, he suddenly becomes a killer? And we're supposed to be watching a comedy? Everything works fine enough until the wedding, and then the whole system just completely falls apart. Americans haven't produced anything truly worth mentioning since we got our independence.
Maria Fox4 said:I caught it recently, and honestly, it’s definitely better than your average American film. But man, the logic is all over the place. They set the whole thing in the present day, yet everything revolves around this "new wave" vibe—you've got dark fairy tales in apples happening in Central Park, garage bands, and this nostalgia for a time that’s long gone. Then, halfway through, the movie just loses its mind. It shifts from a charming little comedy into this frantic, messy ending, almost like the editor showed up drunk and decided to stitch in footage from a completely different movie. Aside from that one solid bathroom scene with John Doe and the old guy by the bride, the rest of the film just loses its way and sense of direction. Don't get me wrong, the soundtrack is good and there's some decent humor sprinkled in, but then you get that pointless, aggressive running around at the wedding that was supposed to be funny. It just felt like senseless aggression. From the wedding to the car chase and that final scene in the garage, it stops being a tragicomedy and starts feeling like some cliché soap opera that doesn't fit at all. Still, if nothing else, the movie is a sign that maybe better days are coming for American cinema.
