Kevin Smith Presents: On the eve of his bachelor party, a man learns his fiancee want to call off the wedding. The unmarried couple returns to New Jersey to sort out their relationship.
This is one of those movies that sucks you in and you end up watching from start to finish. Jeremy Sisto, Rashida Jones and a brief camo by Kevin Smith were the only well know while the others were unfamiliar but did pretty well playing their parts. Smith had a few things that should have been cut from the movie.
Movie Reviews
Wicked funny!
D. Wendell | 12/04/2006
(5 out of 5 stars)
"If you like indie comedies, this is totally up your alley. Great, off-the-wall characters and killer performances. I laughed out loud a lot, but the heart the movie has is what surprised me (and not in a bad way.) The kind of movie I wish I could find more often."
A Good First Effort From the Man Formerly Known as Randal...
Weedwacker | Satellite of Love, CA | 12/17/2006
(3 out of 5 stars)
"We all know and love Randal Graves (Jeff Anderson) from the Clerks movies. I saw this movie a couple of years ago at Vulgarthon, which is basically a Kevin Smith film festival. In fact, I can see myself in the crowd during the Q&A on this dvd which is pretty neat! :-)
I will be honest and say that I did not have high hopes for this movie. I did not expect it to be bad, but I was certainly pleasantly surprised at how good it was and as one person stated during the Q&A, I now think of Jeff Anderson as Jeff Anderson, not as Randal. He has definitely come into his own and should be recognized for having talents all his own and beyond his quick-talking role in Kevin Smith's movies.
Now You Know is about a couple who are engaged and on the eve of their wedding the bride-to-be (Rashida Jones) calls off the wedding with (seemingly) no explanation, leaving the groom (Jeremy Sisto) confused and at a loss as to what he should do next.
One of the high points of the film is definitely the casting. For the most part the cast is impeccable and the acting is great. Jeremy Sisto is quickly becoming one of my favorite actors consistently surprising me in the unique and independant films he chooses to be in. His performance here is no exception, he is excellent as the sweet and baffled Jeremy. One hilarious fun fact is that according to Jeff Anderson his first choice for the role of Jeremy was Joey Lawrence! He said that Lawrence auditioned and was absolutely perfect but he couldn't bring himself to cast him simply because "come on, it's Joey Lawrence." Anyhow, Sisto fills the part just fine, although it would have been interesting to see Lawrence in the part as well.
I was happy to see Jones in the role of Kerri--the only other thing I have seen her in is one episode of the much beloved show Freaks and Geeks. She does just fine as the dissatisfied and confused Kerri.
In supporting roles we have Anderson as Gil, one of Jeremy's old friends, who does great as always. We also have a wonderful performance by Heather Paige Kent whom I used to watch in an underrated and short-lived tv show called That's Life. She turns in a remarkable performance here as the supportive friend of Kerri with a big problem of her own. I hope to see her in more movies in the future. In my opinion the only weak point in the casting is Trevor Fehrman as Bisquit, Jeremy and Gil's buddy. His performance is forgettable, poor and he brings almost none of himself to the part. Most of his rants are pretty typical of rants in almost every Kevin Smith movie and it's pretty obvious that these are some of the same, his inflection is even the same as so many other secondary characters in Clerks and it was actually a little distracting and it's also part of the reason I gave the movie three stars instead of four.
Another reason for the three-star rating is due to the fact that the movie suffers from a little predictability (not too bad though) and some dialogue in certain scenes that is too run-of-the-mill or typical. I also feel that certain parts of the movie are a bit too reminiscent of Clerks, which is not entirely a bad thing but it would have been nice to see Anderson break away from that and come up with something completely separate from his work with Smith.
All in all Anderson really put himself out there and we can see a lot of his personal story in Now You Know. This is a great first-time effort and I think we will see something even better with his next film Marry Me To Death. He stated that he wanted to make a movie that appealed to both men and women and this movie has crude humor and a somewhat Bachelor Party-esque feel to it and also has a softer side with some romantic elements which will appeal to the ladies (not me so much because romance in movies makes me sick, haha). Anyway, he most certainly accomplishes this goal with Now You Know. I recommend checking this flick out, it is well worth the time."
Hilarious, a bit rough around the edges, but very real
N. Hamilton | McLean, VA USA | 01/18/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"Having never seen Jeff Anderson in a film away from the Clerks franchise, I was very curious to see how he did writing, directing AND having a major starring role in a film. To be honest, he shocked the hell out of me with how well he did. With a low budget, an inexperienced director, and a limited shooting time, Jeff Anderson made the best of the situation he had. The film lacked the smoothness of progression that some experienced directors get, but it definitely had a lot of humorous moments and that was coupled with a genuinely heart felt story. This is a movie I'll enjoy watching again."
An excellent debut from "Randal Graves"
Orthogod | Knoxville, TN USA | 01/01/2007
(4 out of 5 stars)
"In the View Askewniverse, you start to wonder if any of the actors in Kevin Smith's movies manage to break out from the characters they are associated with (with the exception, of course of Jason Lee and Ben Affleck). Will any of the Jersey locals who act in these films have a bankable career? Jay Mewes has started to shed his "Jay" character, but he's going to have to do something better than "Bottoms Up." I'd love to see Brian O'Halloran do something big as well Marilyn Ghigliotti.
Jeff Anderson, however, turns in a surprise with not only another acting gig, but a writing AND directoral one as well. And it's really good for a first-time outing from a guy who you feel got "railroaded" into the acting world with "Clerks." I almost hate to compare this to a Kevin Smith flick, but Anderson manages to turn out a romantic comedy on par with "Chasing Amy" but without the world of monologues that Kevin Smith characters seem to inhabit. Don't get me wrong, Kevin does brilliant dialogue, but I can imagine for some viewers, they get lost with all the talking, the witticisms, and the inside jokes. So flame me that I dare blaspheme and say that Anderson churned out something on par with (or maybe slightly better than) "Chasing Amy."
Do I need to review the movie? Read the other reviews if you need a synopsis."