Customer Reviews

The Brutal Truth

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(7)

 

 

The actual plot of this movie was not that bad, but the casting and dialogue really destroyed any chance this movie had for being watchable. Christina Applegate is a good actress, but she has a very small role. The storyline strayed here and there and never successfully satisfied the viewer's curiosity. The only aspect that kept my interest was Moon Unit Zappa's performance, as a quick-witted and lonely lesbian. If you like Moon Zappa, get the movie; otherwise, save your money, and your time.

Christina Applegate was on screen for a total of about 10 minutes. While that may work for Marlon Brando in Superman it did not work here for Christina. This is a very pretentious, predictable mish mash that actually stars a bunch of people better suited for an Ed Wood production. This is another example of a movie trying to get milage from a performer with name recognition, no matter how small her part. The same was done in "From Dusk 'Til Dawn 2", starring Tiffany Amber Thiessan. She was in that movie for about 5 minutes, then killed off. Don't fall for it!

What starts off as something that seems like it might be interesting becomes all too boring and contrived. You can see where it's going almost immediately. A group of reunited high school buddies in their late twenties/early thirties gather at the request of their friend, Emily (Christina Applegate). They go to her parent's summer home in the mountains. A cast including Molly Ringwald(a chain smoking nag married to one of Emily's friends) Moon Zappa, and some no names. But alas...they get there and Emily is no where to be found. Two of the gals are sisters, one is very pregnant. There is alot of mystery about who is the father. Everyone gets drunk and stupid and finally goes to sleep. One earthquake later and they are stuck on a mountain with a corpse (guess who?)Fake forced dialogue,no real "connection" between these so-called "great friends," lots of arguments, affairs, secrets, and way too many flashbacks to a night 9 months ago where a terrible thing happened at a party, is too much to take! While this movie had potential it seemed like they rushed to get the movie out and everyone had just memorized their lines. The one airhead in the movie, a gal called "Vanilla" was the only one,ironically, who seemed able to act. These friends even kill a dog (accidentally) in a dog-napping attempt that they hope will result in reward money so that they can buy some pot! Save your two hours for a different movie. You may be disappointed in this one!

If you're a stoner, you may enjoy this week-end cabin flopping, never-ending drone of apparently a half-dozen out-of-work actors who clearly had nothing else better to do but to transcript one of their pot-head boring parties. It was one of those few misconceived independent film attempts that is amateurish on every level, and I couldn't fast-forward through it fast enough. All the while I was watching it, I was hoping Christina Applegate (Married with Children fame) would come in and save this story. But she only shows in a disappointing series of short flashbacks, except for her terrorized cameo roll toward the end that she performed near perfection. In a short while, you quickly hope this film transforms into another teen hatchet picture---if only to halt the harangues. But these resilient characters just keep on breathing.

I watched this movie last night after borrowing it, and was pleasantly surprised it had me laughing & crying. I rather enjoyed it, I really liked Molly Ringwald's icy, chain-smoking character. Yeah, I agree, a few too many "flashbacks", and a little slow, but you all act like you've never actually SEEN a BAD movie before. Truly BAD movies you don't even finish watching, no matter your liking for an actor or not. I've seen countless BAD movies, and sorry folks, but this ain't one of 'em. Give it a little credit. It's NOT that bad. No, not even close to award-worthy, but not as bad as you all're saying. Yes, the rape scenes were a bit brutal, but I've seen 1000 times worse in VERY good films. The Brutal Truth was a good film I'd watch again - I very much enjoyed watching it last night. I liked the story & found it a little original - it had a lot more potential than the film showed, but still worth watching.

Sincerely,
Chandra
aka JaidaMoon

If you liked THE BIG CHILL, you probably won't like THE BRUTAL TRUTH. Trying to set the same kind of mood as the CHILL, TRUTH offers us characters that are hardly likeable, a slow moving and banal plot, and acting that should make the actors responsible feel very embarrassed. The writer tries to make Emily (Christina Applegate in a very small role) appear to be some kind of saint who changes everyone's life she touches. The big "secret" is hardly that devastating for Emily, but one of her friends is pregnant with a baby that was the result of a brutal rape. The movie has about a dozen worthless songs that they keep putting in, along with mood shots of the reflective actors. Johnathon Schaech (Judas, The Forsaken) appears as some writer who ends up narrating the story, with a really coy and ridiculous ending. Moon Zappa appears as a lesbian, and the other actors merely go through the motions.
An independent film that proves that not all indies are so great.

I like Christina Applegate and Molly Ringwald, which is why it is hard to believe this movie was so bad. And not in any kind of cultish or campy way. It was just bad like it wasn't done from a script, just from jumbled notes, with pages missing. Characters seem to explode or make speeches at random, and you feel like missing scenes and lots of characterization that should have preceded these episodes might have explained them and made them relavent/believable.

This pretentious and uneven movie tries to be a twenty-something Big Chill and fails miserably. What Christina Applegate (who is in the film for all of five minutes) is doing in such a horrible movie, I have no idea. The film centers around a group of old friends, none of whom are even remotely interesting, and has a "message" about not running from your past that's about as insultingly simplistic and empty-headed as the rest of the script. In addition, it uses something as hideous as sexual assault in a cavalier and "oh by the way, this is what happened" manner that brings new depth to the term "gratuitous". How and or why this movie was made is beyond me. Awful, not even worth renting.

I'm a huge Christina Applegate fan. I have been since my days in the Marines, when all we could get on the tube were "Married w/Children" reruns, in the Gulf War. I was very angry when "Jesse" got cancelled also. I would think that an actress of Christina's caliber would be getting more leading roles in high bugget productions. I must be missing something? But if your like me, a huge fan of Christina's, don't bother with this one, trust me.

I watched this film because I am interested in Molly Ringwald's independent filmwork.

I am sorry I did. Not for Ringwald's (or anyone's) performance, however.

The payoff of the plot--the actual "brutal truth"--was horrific, unexpected. . .and upsetting. Such scenes are usually handled with tact, grace, respect for the audience and the audience's responses. This scene in particular did not do so by any stretch of the imagination. Following on the heels of disjointed scene changes and little character development (who are these people? tell me, as the audience, why I should care), the payoff scene was even more offputting.