solid direction-terrific ensemble cast

Author: ween-3
7 August 1999

You liked "Glengarry Glen Ross"? (Nan pas du tout aîmé)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 andinventive 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!

Brilliant, but be warned, you must have a good command of English to understand what they are talking about...
(Une bonne traduction en français=Tchoolos)
Author: ZenShark from Pakistan
9 January 2007

HurlyBurly is one of those movies for me that i can watch over and over again, and each time see something different, each time connect to it in a different way. The movie captures one man's struggle for meaning and significance in his with a desperation that has rarely been caught on film before. The movie deals in archetypes, with nearly all the characters neatly sitting into one archetype or another. After watching the movie one cant help wonder which of the people he knows is like which of the characters in the movie.

The direction and cinematography are used to serve the characters, and thats what the movie is about, the characters. Nothing much happens in the movie, other than people meeting, and people talking. I always find brutally honest characters interesting to watch, and this entire movie might just be about that. The cast, and the acting is excellent.

Many people are bored by the movie because of its wordiness, and many people disparage it as a drug movie. Although the film is wordy, it is not a drug movie. I would say it is a philosophical movie if anything else. The movie forces you to be introspective, and the movie even acts like somewhat of a Rorschach test on the viewers. Some scenes, like the one where Eddie and Mickey describe the road trip, can be seen in different ways. I like to think that the way people understand this movie has a lot to do with the kind of people they are.

Do watch this movie, but remember that the movie is demanding. The characters talk fast, and talk a lot. The ideas expressed are complicated, and need to be thought about to be properly understood. In fact, watch this movie twice.

Great movie, more theatrical than cinematic

Author: imdb-5032 from amsterdam
15 December 2004

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 fromthe film's main thrust.

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

great flick

Author: (jimmyhopps1@hotmail.com) from New York
16 September 2003

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.

Trivia
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-Kevin Spacey asked the director for call sheets when Garry Shandling was going to be doing his scenes so that he could be there to watch. Spacey gave Shandling acting advice between takes, and at one point was even Garry's focal point behind the camera to mimic a facialexpression, which the director used in the film since it captured the moment perfectly.
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-The original Broadway production of "Hurlyburly" by David Rabe opened at the Ethel Barrymore Theater in New York on August 7, 1984, ran for 343 performances and was nominated for the 1985 Tony Award for the Best Play.
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-The cast of the Chicago stage premiere in 1984: William Hurt as Eddie; Christopher Walken as Mickey; Sigourney Weaver as Darlene; Harvey Keitel as Phil; Jerry Stiller as Artie; Cynthia Nixon as Donna; Judith Ivey as Bonnie. On Broadway, Ron Silver replaced Christopher Walken.
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-Sigourney Weaver was nominated for the 1985 Tony Award (New York City) for Supporting or Features Actress in a Musical for "Hurlyburly"for the role of Darlene.