Customer Reviews

The Lather Effect

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(17)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

This is a brilliant little film. Eric Stolz gives a blinding performance as the lead in what has been called a 'Big Chill' for 80's kids. It's the morning after a massive party, and the group of friends cleans house, revisting the previous night. It's pretty compelling if you're in your 20s-40s and wondering if you wound up with the right person, if life is set. The film manages to be bittersweet yet unpretentious and the script by Sarah Kelly and Tim Talbott is utterly hilarious. Wish there was a higher than five star rating.

In only a few days Valinda (Connie Britton) has to turn over her family home to the new buyers, so she throws a whale of a party, inviting her high school pals, sort of a twenty year reunion. The movie opens the day after the party. The partygoers, for the most part, have left their spouses and children at home, as they've come to relive what once was, their high school past.

As the group nurses hangovers, while they're cleaning up the mess, they wax nostalgic and dredge up memories and secrets that maybe they shouldn't have, because they involve old hurts. They've never really grown up, these people, and now they are about to.

There's a super soundtrack and a super cast, including: Tate Donovan, Ione Sky and the great Eric Stoltz, but for some reason the movie didn't quite live up to the long shadow cast by the Big Chill, a shadow that effects all movies like this. Still it was okay, four stars.

In reading the backside of the DVD, I was excited to watch The Lather Effect! Unfortunately, I was bored to tears throughout it.

This is about the day after a high school reunion party. They are all in their 30's now and they show up to the reunion as they used to look. Seems some of them came as they used to be as well - immature!

They wake up at a house that is torn apart, they are all nursing hangovers - or still drunk, and they reminisce about the way things were, what happened all those years ago, etc. They decide they need another night of the fun; which added up to pure boredom for me.

Being a 30-something myself, I really thought I would love this movie. But the music was the only thing I found myself enjoying.

The cast includes Tate Donovan, Ione Skye, Eric Stoltz, David Herman, William Mapother, Connie Britton, Peter Facinelli, Sarah Clarke, Caitlin Keats, Eric Haase, Dominic Kelly, and Sarah Kelly. The DVD also includes a commentary, a few featurettes, and deleted scenes.

I cannot recommend this movie. Unless of course you are trying to fall asleep.

- 1smileycat :-)

It's the day after an all-out Pali High reunion bash held at the home of one of the revelers, and so bring on the wicked, wicked hangovers. THE LATHER EFFECT opens up with longtime friends regrouping the morning after to chow down on deli cold cuts and to further reminisce. Lots of things to clean up and air out, as the party has left an indelible mark, not only on the ruined house itself but also on the participants. THE LATHER EFFECT is a dramedy of old friendships and lingering heartbreaks and nagging regrets, and there's lots and lots of talking. And, since this premise isn't exactly new, you probably already know where it's all heading.

The story centers on nine familiar characters, all thirty-somethings, all with issues crying out to be resolved, all clinging to the past (excepting Tate Donovan's practical, quasi-stuffy character). These cats are fine and dandy on the surface, but mostly messed up underneath. The actors, a cast of B-listers and unknowns, do a fine job fleshing out their characters, and it's not their fault that the story is unoriginal and the script mostly waterlogged with uninspired dialogue and telegraphed twists. THE LATHER EFFECT didn't keep me on the edge of the sofa, didn't make me go "Oh, snap!" - although I was mildly curious as to how things would turn out for several of the supporting characters, particularly the stunning, brainy, and promiscuous Katrina (Caitlin Keats) and the restless housewife Claire (Sarah Clarke, of 24). Eric Stoltz, who affects a surfer dude accent, walks away with the most interesting role honors, closely followed by Caitlin Keats (who is so sexy I'm very surprised she hasn't done more films). The central characters, I didn't care for as much. This suggests something uncomplimentary about the film.

THE LATHER EFFECT falls somewhere in the middle of the pack. I certainly didn't mind watching it, but it wasn't like I had my eyeballs glued to the screen, absentmindedly wolfing down popcorn. I wouldn't call it an insightful film, but it does strive to be an honest one. There are several good moments here (though not enough), some well done scenes involving these friends simply hanging out or in full shindig mode. There are fine scenes of barefaced confessions and throwaway truths. One sweet example happens during a party game, as the younger-than-the-others Danny disarmingly narrates how he lost his virginity in high school to a college girl, and, yes, it involves one of these women present. Another one is the Eric Stoltz character's perceptive breakdown of how to win the beauteous Katrina, always available but ever unattainable (trust me, it makes sense in the film). But my favorite bit has to be the gang rocking out in the living room to Dr. Sauce's "Swamprat." This film is a collection of little moments - most of which are ordinary enough, but some, revelatory - all making up a day in the life. By the end of the movie, it's understood that these old and unhappy friends have gained some measure of closure and a better understanding of whatever ails them. That's fine.

And, yes, the soundtrack, as touted, is pretty rad.

"The Lather Effect" isn't a typical three star-rated movie,insofar as it went from trying to be a "A 'Big Chill' for Generation X!," as the banner across the front of the DVD case extolled, to being a credible movie about never being able to go back and relive those days of ones youth.

The cast, consisting of Connie Britton, Sarah Clarke, Tate Donovan, Peter Facinelli, David Herman, Caitlin Keats, William Mapother, Ione Skye and Eric Stoltz, were strong enough for this movie, but they never quite lifted it from being an "B" feature, because it was trying too hard to be "The Big Chill," and a couple of other movies, such as "Risky Business," et. al., but just didn't try to build on itself for the first 30 minutes.

Then, David Herman, as Corey, the "famous" one of the lot, makes a revelation that upends the dynamics of the group, and Connie Britton and William Mapother, as star-crossed lovers, are drawn together, again, and the other characters settled-down and build on themselves, as they are, rather than what they used to be.

The "Lather Effect," an "effect" that was explained as when the second application of shampoo is used (you know, shampoo, rinse and re-apply shampoo) the lather is thicker.... which, somehow, never worked out that way for me... I always thought it was just a way the shampoo folks had for getting you to use twice as much shampoo, but I digress. Give "The Lather Effect" a watch, but don't let the first 30 minutes defer you from a decent movie. Had the first 30 minutes been stronger, I would have given this movie four stars.

This was a pleasant movie that showcased some interesting characters and dropped them in a bit of a contrived situation. However, it was not "The Big Chill" for those of us graduating school in the 80's. I'll grant you that there were some interesting choices made with characters, such as Eric Stolz's, in that he was not supposed to be a contemporary of the rest of the cast, but rather a bit older and a bit of a joke even when they'd been in school and yet now he'd reached a point where he was accepted by the "gang". I liked that the women who had the hots for the stud way back when didn't go forward with meeting him, because you can't go back and it made a point of that.

On the whole, though, it just seemed a bit light. It wasn't as deep or meaningful as it could have been. There was much ground they could have covered with the characters, such as Peter Facinelli's - the kid brother who they all believe is selling dope out of the basement - but it just wasn't mined.

Good, but not a full meal - so to speak.

Another tried and tested formula with a "now grown up" group revisiting their past at a reunion, but this is much better (and funnier) than "Old School" or other recent offerings.
A great soundtrack of 80's classics is also well placed throughout the movie, but it's the characters, acting and emotion that really brings the movie to life.
The ensemble cast may not be considered current box office stars, but there are a lot of familiar faces in this picture, not least Eric Stolz, and former child star David Herman who are hilarious, and steal each scene respectively. It's a funny picture, but it's underpinned with a message of missed opportunity, youth, revisiting old times, and even pathos at times, as each character attempts to untie the knots in there respective life paths since last they met. Old relationships are revisited, old flames fanned, and many skeletons get an airing from the closet. I felt that it was all handled with a light touch by director Sarah Kelly who manages to keep the picture moving and injects levity strategically throughout.
I suspect that the people who will get the most from this movie are those that can remember the 80's and be of the same age as the characters. Some of the humor and situations may be lost on a younger viewers, and it isn't raucous or full of innuendo and cheap titillation, which in turn will probably mean it will not command a wide audience.
4 stars overall. Great Movie

It's not often I have trouble finishing a movie, but this one just did not interest me at all. I thought I'd like it because the cast contains many actors I like (Connie Britton, Eric Stoltz, Tate Donovan). And they were okay, but there's not much they can do with a boring story.
Not recommended.

The Lather Effect attempts to pull us into the "after" party of a RETRO 80s RAGER. We are introduced to a few characters as they struggle through their intial hang-overs and eventual hair of the dog next day drinking. In between this we are given glimpses at their characters through some snappy and some not so snappy dialogue. For a film that is all about remembering the thankfully bygone era of the 80s, there is little nostalgia on display other than the costumes and the soundtrack, (which really just teases us with snippets of the songs for the most part.)
The actors do their best here,(David Herman stands out) and it is far from unwatchable but one gets the feeling eventually that this was a bit of a squandered effort.
The forced character realizations near the end come one after another and finally end up feeling flatter than the beer in the leftover kegs that litter the scenery. As the RZA says in his brief cameo appearance "next time invite me to the party", my thoughts exactly as the night before looked like alot more fun. The DVD extras are decent and there is a *gasp* CHAPTER INSERT, now thats nostalgic. Mildly recommended as rental, or you could just watch some John Hughes movies, thats the 80s I remember.

Saw this film at the LA Film Festival and had a blast! Its the kind of film that is more than worthy of a cult following, theme parties, and at least one drinking game. Great music, incredibly charismatic ensemble cast and the best celluloid 80's feeling I can only guess my parents felt while watching The Big Chill for the first time.
Every cast member brings their own fun to their characters while numerous cameos make for funny one liners and some really memorable moments. No 80's party will be complete without this film and its hopefully forthcoming soundtrack!!! If you grew up on Cameron Crowe and John Hughes films this is the fix you have been missing...