crystalmh3698
Very funny movie especially if you have a dumba** little brother. It started out the second scene with Dave eating a Deep Fried Breaded Pork Loin Sandwich if you are from Middle America you probably know what I am talking about. It's one of the few things I miss about the Midwest and it looked wonderful. I thought the relationship between the brothers was a lot of fun and yes the fighting was predictable and over the top but I was thoroughly entertained by the ridiculous behavior. There are some very funny and kinda dirty shout outs to the "Wild Things" movie. Christopher Meloni is great as the squirrel loving not so legitimate business partner of Dave and Jim's dearly departed father. Toss in Branson Russian Mafia, prostitutes, a lot of alcohol and a bunch of other silly stuff. Don't take it (or yourself) too seriously and you will have a good time.
kent-tolson
I saw this at the Alamo and thought it was the funniest movie of the whole festival, and maybe one of the funniest I've seen in the past few years. The big laughs come from the physical comedy, but there's a lot of subtle humor in the dialog and the characters too that I only started to pick up on towards the middle of the movie. Kind of made me feel like I'd catch more the 2nd time around, but this was the last screening of it at SXSW, so I guess I'll wait 'til it gets released. There were some lulls in the middle and the story arc goes from 0-60 a little too quick at the end, but these are minor complaints that only keep it from being a perfect movie. And most movies are not perfect, especially comedies, and ESPECIALLY extremely funny ones. Like Tommy Boy and Billy Madison aside, there are no perfect comedies in the last 20 years. And this movie felt like Tommy Boy got into a car accident with Sideways. And in a good way. I loved it.
laffertydan
Far from perfect, but easily one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Seriously so funny. Who is Alex Rennie and somebody get this kid a TV show. He is on fire throughout this whole movie. I was non-stop laughing out loud from start to finish. So many good gags and so many funny lines. "We'll put it on our tab. Or we'll get a tab going, and then we'll put it on the tab" (after breaking a chair). "That bat had like pine-tar on it or something" (after breaking a window). I could go on but I'd be ruining the movie. And all of the supporting characters were real funny too. Although I wasn't a fan of a lot of the costuming and make-up. And it wasn't that it was too low budget or anything, it just kind of seemed too loud and cartoonish with a lot of the characters. Might be a little too absurd for most people, but I just went with it and am glad I did because it paid off time and time again. In fact, that's pretty much how the whole movie went. After about 15-20 minutes in, it starts to get a little crazy, and you just have to go with it, because the laughs are a mile a minute if you do. Definitely catch this movie if you can. It's the funniest.
Emma Dinkins
Sometimes a story played out on film serves as a motivator or is inspiring or just plain entertaining, however in the case of the independent film Awful Nice, I am still attempting to categorize it. The story begins with Jim (James Pumphrey) retrieving his younger brother Dave (Alex Rennie) to return home and attend the memorial services for their recently deceased father. The condition and location in which Jim finds Dave was the first indication that somebody has issues. This film did something that has never happened to me before, I laughed uproariously at some very funny sequences, but once the film was over I was left feeling unfulfilled. Usually if it is a good comedy, the emotion elicited is upbeat and cheery but not with this film. The characters Dave and Jim both reminded me of how competitive brothers can be having grown up in a household with three brothers myself, but the incessant arguing and fighting was just too much. I continuously asked myself if Jim is the smart one why does he keep following advice from Dave. And then you realize that after a while some of the lunacy starts to make some sense. I do wonder what inspired writer Alex Rennie to create this outlandish road trip, brothers bonding story, and whether the character Dave was based in part on Alex's own life. The reason that I ask this question is because Mr. Rennie was so convincing with his particular kind of crazy as Dave. He was quick witted, rationalized everything from a spoiled brat point of view and took no responsibility for anything in his life all while guilting Jim into mindless submission. Mr. Rennie is either a really good actor or he really is Dave. I've never been to Branson, but there was a huge inference that it is overrun with Russian Mafia and prostitution, which is the world that Jim and Dave's father's business partner seemed to be very much a part of. Since I watch a lot of Law and Order reruns it was easy to spot Christopher Meloni (Jon Charbineau) in spite of the mustache, the horrible accent, and the worse wig ever. He did a great job of portraying a sleazy businessman not that he did anything that was sleazy, he just really looked the part. I still do not know what the title related to, I suppose they used Awful Nice because My Idiot Brother was already taken.