Customer Reviews

Finding Amanda

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

 

 

Matthew Broderick has the rare gift of comedy.

He has the innate timing that allows him to deliver a funny line in the most tense situation, and still get his laugh.

That's what he does regularly in FINDING AMANDA, a terrific dark comedy from writer-director Peter Tolan, now available on DVD from Magnolia Home Entertainment.

Broderick plays a once-successful television comedy writer on a downward spiral. He's a recovering alcoholic, addicted to gambling and he's about to be fired from the terrible sitcom he's writing.

In a desperate attempt to save his marriage (to Maura Tierney), he heads for Las Vegas, promising to bring home his runaway niece (Brittany Snow), who has become a hooker. But, sending Broderick to Vegas is like putting a person with an eating disorder in a candy store. By film's end, we're not sure which character needs saving the most.

Broderick and Tolan supply DVD audio commentary.

© Michael B. Druxman

I loved this movie! Maura Tierney is the best! The movie was funny and heartfelt. I highly recommend to everyone!

Mathew Broderick has become a favorite actor of mine. I never was a Ferris Bueller fan, but after seeing "Election" I really started liking Broderick's work. "Biloxi Blues" was great too. "Finding Amanda" starts off at a pretty jaded pace, but at the same time it hits the nail right on the head with its characters coming to grips with who they are, though mostly the tone is light and comedic with black humor undertones.

It's interesting from beginning to end (a strange scenario) and easy to watch. His wife is the woman who played Jim Carrey's wife in "Liar Liar", and she puts in a similar performance which works. Broderick's character of sympathetic loser is comparable to his character of high school teacher in Election (great movie). If you liked either of those movies I think you'd like this as well. I found it wholly entertaining. It had a very appropriate ending.

I'm a bit surprised that this movie doesn't have more (and better) reviews--but I gather it didn't do much in the box office. I certainly hope that that fact doesn't discourage Matthew Broderick (as if he reads Amazon reviews of his films!) because this is a fine and beautifully made film and it shows, once again, what a very funny (and gifted) actor he is.

This movie is not a light and airy comedy, no question--it has a dark side. But life does have its dark sides and no one is better at shedding some light and humanity into that dark side than Broderick. Think back, even the movie that probably won him his most loyal following--Ferris Bueller's Day Off Bueller...Bueller... Edition (Special Collector's Edition)--has a very dark side to it. And so does Biloxi Blues for that matter (and wow is Christopher Walken great in that film).

And let's not forget Election which is one of the funniest films ever made and has an intensely dark side. Broderick seems to reach his full stride in these complex roles of self-examination.

This is the story of a Hollywood screenwriter who is having some, ummm, personal difficulties: alcohol, drugs, gambling, and a career that's headed for the crapper, to name a few. Then he finds out that his 20-year-old niece is a hooker (and drug addict in Las Vegas). Broderick ends up heading to Las Vegas, naturally, to try and rescue her.

There are some killer lines in this movie that Broderick delivers with such a skilled sense of deadpan that you barely notice them. In one scene his niece uses some colorful and violent language and then, a second later, chides a friend for swearing in front of her uncle. The line that Broderick delivers (almost under his breath) after that is worth the price of the film. Few other actors could have taken that dark moment and turned it into pure comedy: he does. In fact, I had to replay the line about three times the first time I watched the film just to enjoy the surprise and the good laugh that I got.

By the way, for fans of the old TV show Coach: The Third Season, you'll be pleasantly surprised to see Bill Fagerbakke in a small but extremely entertaining role. Why isn't Fagerbakke making a ton of films by the way, he's just an amazing comic actor.

Don't pay too much attention to the somewhat prudish low-star reviews on here (hey, every is entitled to their opinions): this is a masterful piece of dark comedy and Broderick takes the screenplay to a higher place than it probably deserved. I loved this movie and I wish he would make a lot more films.

Oh, and by the way, Maura Tierney: terrific as always.

I was lucky enough to catch this new film on HDNET free before it was release in theaters and I must say it's an excellent film! Broderick gives a winning performance as a 40 something guy with his share of vices.....most of them he's trying to give up. Having a hard time kicking his gambling habit and keeping his wife from leaving him. Broderick sets out to find his niece who is a hooker in of all places.....Las Vegas!

Funny and insightful, this movie has some great laughs, but it's smart and thought provoking as well! It's the best film I've seen Matt in since Ferris Bueller's Day Off! This is a very good film with good performances all around.

This book took many turns and twists. At one point your thought one character was the suspect and then it would change and it was focusing on another character. Thoroughly enjoyed.

**1/2

Harried sitcom writer Taylor Mendon is a recovering addict and compulsive gambler who heads to Las Vegas to rescue his ditzy twenty-year-old niece from a career in prostitution and to get her to enroll in rehab. The problem is that Amanda (Brittany Snow) is more than happy with the choices she's made and finds it rather hypocritical and presumptuous of her uncle of all people to be on his high horse regarding how she's living her life.

Matthew Broderick has always excelled at playing the well-meaning, bumbling nebbish, but here, playing a well-meaning, bumbling nebbish who also happens to have alcohol and drug-dependency problems, he defies credibility. Moreover, writer/director Peter Tolan never quite strikes that proper balance between the lighthearted and the serious that he's so earnestly striving for (and which he often achieves on "Rescue Me").

That being said, "Finding Amanda" does have a nice feel for its settings, a partially unexpected resolution, and enough goodwill to almost make it an enjoyable experience.

Let me preface this, my husband bought this from a bargain bin so we paid next to nothing for it. With that said, it's an interesting movie. It's a dry comedy with a sad story. Broderick's character is addicted to alcohol and gambling. He decides to go to Vegas to find his niece who is a hooker and supposedly on drugs. It's a depressing story about poor decisions from both characters. There are scenes that made my husband and I uncomfortable but others we laughed at. It's not a movie I'd loan to most of my friends but it was an interesting movie to watch. I'd say rent it before buying it unless you can find it in a bargain bin.

A tv producer who loves drinking and gambling is sent to vegas to find his niece in desperate need of rehab. The movie really keeps you on the edge of your seat and makes you think. I loved it!

I would actually give the movie 3.5 stars because of the graphic dialogue and the language in the movie. Other than the major R content (this is definitely not a children's or a family movie so I highly discourage anyone under age 17 watch this), I actually enjoyed the film's story line and the acting by Brittany Snow (Amanda), Matthew Broderick, and Maura Tierney.

This movie delves into the lives of the uncle (Broderick) who is a TV producer and his niece (Amanda) who is a prostitue for a living who does it solely for the money. She lives a very nice life in a big house with her boyfriend from the money she makes from her "customers". It is hard to imagine someone so good looking as a prostitue, but sadly there are many people out there who are into this kind of lifestyle just for the money and nothing else. The movie touches an important issue which is overcoming your addictions and searchng to find out what your life really means. The audience is left hanging in the end to whether Amanda really gives up her previous prostitution lifestyle, but at least she learns some important lessons from her uncle who goes through a hell of a lot of bad stuff in the movie (such as getting beat up by a group of thugs who accuse him of abusing Amanda).

This is a must see movie, but only for mature audiences.