Search - 100 Mile Rule on DVD

Please don't read the plot summary

02/04/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I am delighted to have the opportunity of being the first person to review this straight-to-video film. I am delighted because I can hopefully influence a few folk to buy or rent this flick *without* having to know the plot, or at least all its twist and turns, ahead of time. You see, I believe that we have ruined our movie-going experiences by too *many* reviews, or at least too many reviews of the type that give away the whole plot. In the old days, when people turned up at their local movie house on a semi-regular basis to see the "feature", they did not know the whole plot before they even sat down. All they usually knew was who the stars were and the genre of movie.This is the way I saw 100 Mile Rule for the first time. Knowing nothing about the film at all. It was showing at a film festival, and the film just happened to be showing at a time and place that was convenient to me and my friends. I just sat down and let the filmmaker spin his yarn around me. That is the way I hope you'll see it too.Let's just say that this is a movie consisting of excellent performances by Jake Weber and Maria Bello ("Auto-Focus", "The Cooler")and the irrepressible Michael McKean turning in a superb performance in a role that could have been a Jack Nicholson role. Also David Thornton, Cyndi Lauper's husband and a former alternative rock musician, in an unforgettable role as a wild-haired "unhelpful" fellow auto parts salesman to the lead character.Let's also say that 100 Mile Rule is well-directed by Brent Huff and features equal parts of humor, drama and suspense. The film, like Tin Men, captures perfectly the world that most of us live in: working dry jobs, eating crow from your boss, trying to "turn the corner" financially, juggling the family flamed batons of Kids, Sex and Finances but having to deal-day-to-day with less than savory co-workers. And, oh yes, the temptations of the flesh which make a playground upon our suburbia-addled minds. Male motive, in all its ugliness, is splayed open for our inspection here.A thrilling ride and a mind-bender from start to finish, sit back and enjoy this film and the fine actors at work here."

Neither funny nore suspenseful

Rottenberg's rotten book review | nyc | 04/14/2005

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This was a wildly uneven movie about coke-sniffing, blackmail and infidelity. A somewhat happily married man is seduced by a blackmailing hottie named Monica (played by Maria Bello) while in LA for a salesmanship seminar. Our hero is one of three salesman who finds himself the subject of extortion when it turns out that his fling with Monica was videotaped. Can he come up with the thirty grand he'll need to keep his wife from getting the tape? Can his fellow salemen (led by Michael McKean) save him? More to the point, will their help do more harm than good? The story plays out in the course of a single, seemingly endless night, as the fateful trio map out their options in their hotel room. On the other side of this blackmail scheme, Monica contends with her boyfriend - a dubious hotel bartender who seems more uncomfortable with the scheme than our victim does.

The end result tries to cross lines of funny and suspenseful, but never achieves either one alone. Initially, our heroes try to use guile - McKean reasons that Monica's blackmail boils down to a form of competitive salesmanship, and they're more professional at it than she is. Unfortunately, things will spiral out of control, with Monica going from playful to downright nasty. Death and cocaine further turn this movie into a mixture of "Big Kahuna" and "Very Bad Things". It holds your attention only because it convinces you that it's about to become something more than it ever does. Some of the plot twists seem forced, while others seem meaningless (since our characters are too dumb or scared to do anything more than what they've already set out to do). There's nary a laugh in the movie (though McKean does much to rectify that situation), nor much of a thrill. In short, this was deservedly low-rated flick.
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Must be my humor, too....

Heffner S | Newburgh, NY USA | 10/01/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Despite a lacklustre ending, I found the film dark and hilarious --- with a satisfying soundtrack to boot. The cast was great, namely (Cyndi Lauper's husband) David Thornton and McKean, who had great chemistry together. Although some are claiming they didn't laugh at all, I laughed out loud several times. Totally recommended for a lazy Sunday afternoon."

Amusing

Ige Gustavson | denver | 09/16/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"maybe it's my type of humor, maybe i was drunk enough, maybe i had a bad day, but i found it amusing."