Laid Off
Year: 2010
Genre: Comedy
Runtime: 89
Rating: Unrated
IMDB Score: 10/10 (7 Votes)
Director(s): John Launchi
Writer(s): Mike Ryan & John Launchi
Plot/Synopsis: Upon being laid off from his corporate job, 25 year old Mike Lagante has a choice: continue along the same path which to this point has left him unchallenged and enthused, or take this opportunity to let loose and relive his younger glory days.
Forethought(s): I tend to like low budget indie comedies so I hope I like this one. I got a press packet with this movie and I feel they are a double edged sword. It’s nice because it gives you more info on the movie and who’s behind it but at the same time it’s makes you think the team behind the movie are a bunch of pompous fucks because of all the festivals they have been in and won. The one thing that everyone who gets a press packet can say is that the folks so send them out are trying to be very professional. I how the movie is done in the same professional way.
Audio: Pass. The hits you like a freight train on and off the first ten or so minutes but after that it’s fine. The soundtrack was good they had a lot of artist perform for the movie. I will refer to the press packet (professional stuff right there) for some of the names and titles. Now I can’t tell you what songs I really liked because I’ve never heard of these people and the movie was not kind enough to stop and inform me who’s up signing, how dare they? Anyways here are some of the performers and the songs they did. “I ‘n’ I” by Universal Rebel. “Unknown ‘Til You’re Shown” by Keith Leslie: The Business Fairy. “The Good Life” by Serendipity Project, and there are ten other songs. Worth checking out the soundtrack for sure.
Acting: Pass Plus. I’m unsure if I EVER gave a Pass Plus to the acting of any low budget indie movie EVER so this could very well be a first and well deserved at that. The two leads CJ Moebius and Mike Ryan played off of each other like they’ve been best friends for years not only that they make acting look easy even when they aren’t on screen with one another. They play characters both start at one end of the spectrum and end up where the other began then come to a nice blend of both combined. The rest of the cast was a mixed bag which is more or less what I was expecting but since the rest of the cast does not have huge roles it does not really affect the overall score of the acting. There was one dude who I felt had should not have been cast at all and I’m not actually going to say who. I want you to watch the movie and see if you can pick the person out. I would like to see Andree Vermeulen in some more roles about this size to see what she can do. I think she can be a real good actress if she got more experience.
Visual: Pass. There was only one real sight gag that you wouldn’t expect for a movie like this and it involves a jockstrap, a whore dressed like a school girl and a script. Wrap your minds around that one. Beyond that very normal type of stuff for the plot.
Writing: Pass Plus. This is one of the very few Pass Pluses I have given to low budget indie movies. You listen to this movie and you’ll say that the writers have lived this stuff because it seems such a natural flow. Also you can tell the writers watch a lot of movies and TV shows due to the references that they toss into the dialogue and toss it in smoothly I might add. One of my favorite lines,not the best line but one of my favs none the less is “You you think you’re Zack Morris but you’re more like Jessie Spano, so excited.” That was only one of two well placed Saved By The Bell references. They had some Goonies refs along with something that really blew me away a Doug ref, I would have shit a brick if they jammed Rockos Modern Life in there. Besides the awesome references the characters sounded like they were in there mid 20′s and that was very refreshing.
Afterthought(s): This movie is a Pass/Pass Plus and I see why they have won Best Feature Comedy at the 2010 Garden State Film Festival. Still think sending out press packets is pretentious as well as pompous but does should professionalism. I was glad to have watched this film and think anyone who likes well written movies that have good character development should pick this up. One thing that was missing from the movie was some tits or lady ass. I only say that because we got some man ass in it.
