Customer Reviews

Highball [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm a big NB fan. THis movie, with it's awful edits, still manages to be entertaining. It isn't nearly as good as his other two films, but still kept me glued to the TV for 75 minutes. The guest shots are fantastic, particularly the Ally Sheedy ones. Christopher Eigeman, my favorite actor, deserved a better part, but Carlos Jacott is terrific. Baumbach himself gives an enjoyable performance. THe movie is all about dialogue and much of it is inspired. If you are new to Noah Baumbach's work, go get Kicking and Screamin and then Mr. Jealousy. This film is really best for fans, and curious viewers. I'm awaiting Noah's next film with great hopes.

If possible, view this on DVD - you'll want to cue up several different scenes. Yes. The lighting is poor, the acting is hurried, the set is something from an old high school musical (probably from Western NY). It was filmed in a week - don't kill the messenger. Nonetheless, if it's 1 am, and you can't sleep - THIS is the movie to watch. Don't expect 'Caddyshack', or 'Old School'- some parts ARE hysterical, but its humor is subtle (particularly the mannerisms of certain characters, plot holes that aren't explained, etc) - which is precisely why one can view it over and over again.

NOTE: If for no other reason - you must see this film, for the scene of the two giant lizards conversing over work at the Halloween party. Never on celluloid has the "F" word been so prefectly placed.

Noah Baumbach....is brilliant. I have to start off by saying that if you've seen Highball...hopefully you looked past the sloppy editing. I'm sure that's why NB, Carlos and Chris took their names off of the project...but this movie is hilarious. It's quite possibly better than Mr. Jealousy, but of course doesn't hold a candle to K&S. The humor is so fast paced that you have to watch this movie a few times to catch all the jokes, as is the way with all of NB's movies. There is rarely a dull moment and NB gets to show us that he's also a brilliant actor as well as a writer/director. Although Eigeman didn't appear a whole lot...he still got the job done. Carlos was absolutely perfect in a role turned 180 degrees in the likes of Otis...or Vince even. Can you name me five of the best movies of all time?! DING! Ummm...K&S...Mr. Jealously...Highball...Um....Days of Wine and Monkeys...John Grisham's The Monkey...

This film was shot in only six days--and it looks it. The one set of a couple's apartment is not very attractive to look at, but who cares. It suits the needs of the film. What I like about the quirky "Highball" is the weird comic writing and some inspired performances. The movie was written and directed by Noah Baumbach, whom you may know as the writer/director of "The Squid and the Whale" and more recently, "Margot at the Wedding". "Highball" is from 1997, and Mr. Baumbach chose to put two different aliases on the film as the writer and the director. Hopefully he's not ashamed of this early flick of his because it's quite enjoyable.

The story is simple. Young couple throw three parties over the course of a year. First is a birthday party for a very odd friend. The second is a hoot of a Halloween party (the funniest sequence). And last is a New Year's Eve party. Their friends come over and people fight and kiss and play games and eat. And that's about it.

The cast is very diverse: Justine Bateman (who is excellent as a wallflower who later blossoms), director Peter Bogdanovich (who is delightful as he quotes from various movies), Ally Sheedy and Rae Dawn Chong (who both play themselves), Eric Stoltz, Annabella Sciorra and Chris Eigeman.

If you're looking for something different and fun, check out "Highball". It's a kooky little gem of a flick.

Listen up Kicking and Screaming(and Mr. Jealousy) fans! Noah Baumbach has not let us down yet, and this film is no exception. it has all of his trademark dialogue and characters. It also has a lot of his cast regulars-Eric Stoltz, Chris Eigeman, Carlos Jacott. Annabella Sciorra returns and so does Dean Cameron(yes! ). It also has 80s goddesses Justine Bateman, Rae Dawn Chong and Ally Sheedy! Plus Peter Bogdanovich(who was pretty good in Mr. Jealousy)! This film did not get much of a theatrical release, but thank god it's finally available to be ordered on dvd! Noah Baumbach is really a can't miss type writer-director for those of us who like his films-just order it!

Interesting comedy told through the course of three parties in one apartment: a birthday party, a Halloween party, and a New Year's Eve party. Basically centered around the couple who's apartment it is who first are together (birthday), break-up (Halloween), and then are married (New Year's) and all their weird and strange friends they join together for each occasion. For anyone who can remember times like these or are going through times like these, there are plenty of moments to laugh at. Like the boring awkward birthday party magician?! Or the hideously costumed drunk hostess at Halloween?! Or a friend coming out on New Years Eve?! It's all there.....strangely and sadly so. You will recognize so man actors in this I don't know how the director got them all for this nothing of a movie but he did, from Stolz to Sheedy to Bogdanovich and more. You'll have fun guessing who's who, but there's plenty of who's not in the film too. Quirky, strange, but enjoyable.

If you're a fan of subtle humor, definitely see this movie. The plot is pretty basic, its about a newlywed couple and the parties they though, the the dialouge makes the film.

The reason why the film isn't worth $60.00 is because the lighting and the editing are on a student film level. The movie was made on a VERY low budget, and it shows. But the script makes the viewer forgive the look of the film.

To be fair, let me make it VERY clear that the director is a pro, and if you watch his previous films you see that he makes great looking films.

Unfortunatly, he had a very small budget for this film.

If you're into suble humor, dialouge films, or if you have a offbeat taste for film, don't miss out on Highball!!

It came upon accident i even saw this ridiculously funny movie. The editing sucks, the plot goes absolutely nowhere, but the undertones of great humor fullfill this movie even through the closing credits. If one is looking for a movie with flat out jokes please don't waste your time. To those with a sense of humor, on the other hand, this is one of my all time favorite movies. I've recommended this movie to most of my friends and have never had a negative comment. I have since purchased Mr. Jealousy and Kicking and Screaming by the same director, Noah Baumbach, god lets hope they are remotely compared to this outstanding work of art.

When I see "All Star Cast" mentioned in a movie description I think of names like Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman and John Travolta- NOT Justine Bateman or Ally Sheedy or (pause to roll eyes) Rae Dawn Chong. But hey, a little hype to pique interest in an obscure movie doesn't mean it's a festering stinkpile, right? Right? But since the mailbox was further away than my TV, I decided to give it a try before walking all the way outside to angrily mail it back to Blockbuster with a terse note to cancel my subscription. Anyway, I really should start listening to my instincts. Thirty minutes later, after becoming criminally insane with boredom, I snatched this meandering yawn-fest from my DVD player. The story... Well, there is none really. The whole thing is little more than a series of parties in which a group of friends meet and engage in "witty", "clever" and often snarky dialogue. It's a character sketch kind of movie but the problem is, the characters are pretty lame, including Ally Sheedy who plays HERSELF, and the "clever dialogue" appears to have been written by drunks or film school dropouts. Or, as is more likely, drunk film school dropouts. It's the kind of artsy pseudo-intellectual dreck that people like to pretend is profound and funny but critical thinking skills will tell you it's rubbish. Couple this with the movie's production cost of around $99.00 and the shooting schedule of a couple of afternoons in poorly-lit houses and editing done by the same drunken dropouts who wrote it and tadaahhh- FESTERING STINKPILE! Get this movie only if you either want to waste 90 minutes of your life and hate yourself for doing it or be a part of the clique of twenty or so people worldwide who think Noah Baumbach is a brilliant filmmaker. Trust me- neither is worth the agony.

This is a must for collectors of Noah Baumbach's work or just great dialog and quirky character studies. The editing is pretty bad at times, so bad that he used a fake name as the director, but still a must see for fans. I am a dvd collector so I had to get it. Its hard to find so if they are selling cheap I would pick it up.