lewiskendell Flakes is more dry and boring than any bowl of cereal could ever be. I've enjoyed many a hipster indie movie, but all the quirky characters in the world can't save a movie that's dull and devoid of any entertainment value, whatsoever.I think the movie was attempting an Empire Records-type vibe, where you're introduced to a few off-beat characters, and then grow to care about their lives over the course of the movie. That certainly didn't happen. Every character was annoyingly "different", and the viewer is never given any reasons to grow attached to them. They never become anything more than arbitrarily alternative caricatures. I normally love Zooey Deschanel (she's the reason I watched the movie), but she's just as un-appealing in this as everyone else. This may sound harsh, but Flakes was a complete failure. Don't waste your time with it.

mcwarryah Having somehow sat through this movie, the one good thing I can say about it is "well, at least the concept is original". The rest of it, though? Utter garbage.The film is horribly acted, the characters mumble and groan their lines in disinterested fashion, and Zooey Deschanel attacks her role as Miss Pussy Katz with the same dull, wooden lifelessness that she always does. How she is thought of as a good actress by anyone is beyond me.The writing is poor, and it tries way too hard to appeal to your typical hipster demographic, though the fact that it somehow manages to have more painfully faux-indie dialog than Diablo Cody's "Juno" is an accomplishment in and of itself. The two main characters are also absurdly named, reinforcing the whole notion that the movie is simply trying too hard. Calling characters "Neal Downs" and "Miss Pussy Katz" is beyond silly, and feels like it's been done sheerly in an attempt to be quirky.The message of "Capitalism is bad!" gets shoved down your throat from the start - Deschanel even quips that "you can't nurture your soul while sitting atop a pile of money" - and by the end, you're praying for this garbage to end, which it does, in the cheesiest, most predictable way possible, a shame, since you'd think a movie with an original concept might have an original ending.The "comedy" is virtually non-existent, and not once during the movie did I laugh, nor did I even spot many attempts at making a joke. May I just don't "get" it because I'm not cool enough.A dull, lifeless, 85 minutes (or thereabouts) that feels like twice that. Avoid it.

shortmantall The best compliment you can give to flakes is that you'll want to work there and believe me I did. The place looked fun and full of life. This film has a similar premise to Empire Records and in some ways I prefer this one as I found it quirkier and more indie. I love Indie films because they function in a way that is all their own. I don't mean that every single indie film functions in the same way, what I mean is one indie film is different from another. Much like Empire Records the subject (the shop in question) just looks like a fun place to work. As for the film, it was really clever, fun, warm, idiosyncratic and very much enjoyable from start to finish. Aaron Sanford shows he can act and of course Zooey Deschanel, picture perfect as always. The most impressive thing you can say about these two in both the writing and performance is they went beyond the chemistry of these two characters and took it to another place by having them have a dynamic. It was there in the writing and in the performances. Simply having the couple not let the work dynamic get in the way of their personal life and in a way does in simple subtle ways is a joy to watch and what I mean. The rest of the cast do fantastically well as well. It's nice to see Christopher Lloyd too.The other aspect of the film I loved was the set design and soundtrack which brought it to life. On the whole this was a superb film with heart and soul and brains to match.

sethroatl Unfortunately, this movie, which to some degree was about staying true to yourself, was shallow and left me wanting. The characters were fairly one-dimensional -- either anti-establishment and cool or pro-business with a pocket protector and glasses. The main characters were fine, but fairly predictable. Christopher Lloyd played his usual role, and the guy from the OC appeared to play Randall Pink Floyd from Dazed and Confused. Ironically, although much of the plot was about not being fake, everything about the movie from the setting to the dialog appeared contrived. I can't say I laughed, cried, smiled or even thought very hard. It didn't even make me want to eat cereal.