Customer Reviews

High Life

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

 

 

High Life is just good enough to be better than a straight-to-video film, but is far from a hit movie. It definitely reminds me the Coen Brothers, with it's fusion of comedy and thriller.

I've been a fan of Timothy Olyphant since 1999, when he was cast as drug dealer Todd Gaines in Go, so I was drawn to this film where he plays the lead. He does a convincing job as Dick, a morphine addict that can't seem to catch a break. I was also impressed with Stephen McIntyre's performance as Bug, a high-strung addict with all of the restraint of a rattlesnake. One of the more enjoyable aspects of the film is watching junkie logic in action, as his fellow addicts and heist conspirators view everything from a warped perspective.

Canadian director Gary Yates, whose career had mostly involved shooting for television, does a surprisingly good job. A perfect example is the self-help group for addicts, where the lighting and camera work makes for a great monologue by suave junkie Billy. The film has a great score which also sets the mood of the movie, with tracks by Creedence Clearwater Revival, Three Dog Night and April Wine.

It's not a straight comedy, so the laughs are infrequent, but the use of humor is always on the money. The buildup to the heist is definitely more interesting than what occurs in the latter half of the film, and the conclusion is a little unsatisfying. It's not a terrific movie as far as crime or drug flicks go, but it's definitely off of the beaten path, and worth a watch.

It's 1983, and Bug has just been released from prison. Bug meets up with his friend and former cellmate Dick, who is working as part of the cleaning crew at a hospital and it's Dick's first on-the-books job, and it provides him with a steady paycheck as well as an opportunity to steal drugs to feed his appetite for opiates. Thanks to Bug, Dick is quickly fired, but Bug soon gets an idea for a quick and lucrative score. Timothy Olyphant has the part of "Dick," reluctant leader of a hapless group of junkie bank robbers, down to perfection and Rossif Sutherland plays the likable Billy with goofy enthusiasm and a wide smile that refuses to go away no matter how much things go wrong. Even the soundtrack in this movie adds to the story without dominating it, and Gary Yates ends up with a black comedic heist caper movie that is very good. It's a fun and often unpredictable ride that provided plenty of chuckles right until the end.

Timothy Olyphant at his best! This movie is hilarious and very sweet at its center! A good guy, with good intentions, who just can't seem to pull it off! Think pink! Audio is a bit annoying, though. Speech scenes are very quiet and everything else is really loud! Think a lighter, funnier Requiem For A Dream!

I watched this movie twice in the same day. I found it to be very funny, sad and disturbing. The cast is great. The soundtrack is fantastic. I found myself really liking this group of hapless, dirty, warped, lowlife criminal drug addicts as they dreamed and plotted. I found myself laughing, smiling, on the verge of tears, upset, confused and disappointed along with these guys. I WANTED them to succeed at being criminals. It's certainly worth a look. If you don't buy it, do yourself a favor and rent it for the acting and soundtrack alone.

This movie was so funny, well acted and written. Every movie Timothy Olyphant is in you can expect great acting, he is a natural for comedy, this film shows it. Movie was based on a play of four guys sitting in a car talking about robbing a bank. Adaptation is spot on. I bought 4 copies to give out to friends.

There are bank heist movies in which everything is meticulously planned. They have a detailed blueprint of the bank which they pore over. There's a steely-eyed safe cracker with a satchel full of sophisticated equipment. They rehearse the heist using a carefully constructed scale model. They synchronize their watches when the caper begins.

Well, that's not "High Life." This film has a lame-brained scheme involving ATM's. Hasty planning done in a morphine-induced haze. Three members of the four-man crew desperately need a shave, shower, and fumigation. The other guy is clean, too clean. (You'll have to suffer through it if you want to find out what that means.)

The film spends a lot of time pointlessly recreating 1983. There's a sickening mixture of slapstick humor and heartless violence. I wasted my time watching this. I'll give it two stars out of respect for the cast, which I feel did its best with what was some very poor material.

Total waste of time. Waited for the ending to somehow validate this moronic movie and only got further into that place where you say to yourself "How did I sit through that whole piece of junk?" I'd give it about a -3 if they had minus stars.