Customer Reviews

X's & O's

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

 

 

A hillarious comedy. Great job for a directors debut. Can't wait to see what they make next

Billed as an indie film, X's and O's surpasses the indie label doing away with long pointless expositions, contrived "intellectual" storylines, pretentious "Clerks"-like dialogue, and shooting on 35mm instead of DV gives the movie a classic Hollywood grade look and feel. X's and O's gets back to basics of characters and story. It focuses on the various relationships among a group of young adults in the San Francisco bay area. Each relationship is as different and interesting as the people who are in it. The "different and interesting" qualities can be attributed to the beautifully cast ensemble who represent the cultural diversity of the bay area - white, black, Latino, Asian, middle-eastern, gay, straight, confused, pseudo-gangster, insecure, etc. There are several sub-plots and storylines that help you understand the motivations of each character, and that in turn helps explain how each character affects the decisions of each other. For a romantic comedy, the movie refrains from employing Hollywood cliches like grand gestures of romance, chases across great distances to profess love, overcoming dramatic obstacles to reach emotional epiphanies, and the predictable happily-ever ending. Instead, X's and O's opts to paint a picture of conflict, insecurities, self-contradictions, redemption, and the little trivial things that constitute real romance and relationships. The ending itself is cleverly constructed to be left to interpretation and lends itself for a possible sequel. Though labeled as a romantic comedy, X's and O's is definitely not just a chick flick. It is a movie that even dudes can admit they watched and enjoyed.

I enjoyed this movie because it showed what happens on both sides of the coin as far as relaionships are concerned. What I don't understand is why this movie never made it to the theaters because I believe that it would've done well. The actors and actresses did a wonderful job with the story, and I look forward to seeing them more. My best friend told me about Judy Marte a long time ago, and I've been a fan of hers ever since!

Great directorial debut and indie film. X's and O's IS NOT and i repeat NOT the typical chick flick but more of a film for both sexes to enjoy together. I'm not going to describe the plot in case of spoilers but I must say, the film has some funny cameos of up and coming actors (Ryles, the Christian guy and etc), an interesting story that keeps you entertained, overall good actors, and clever writing. If your into slap stick funny then this isn't the film for you, the dialogue is what makes this film a romantic-comedy with a slice of drama added into it. Check it out and enjoy. There are many horrible indie films out there that are being watched and purchased every day... why not take a look at one that is actually good and enjoyable from start to end. Can't wait to see the director and writers next project.

I try to get to viewing the Bay Area indie films for my store as they can sometimes have some decent time-capsule shots of the local cities. Overall, the DVD gives a decent spattering of bridge/bay views and a couple recognizable transit facilities, but I would keep it as a rental because the repeat-viewing factor is not entirely there.

The story follows several twenty-something couples/friends as they perform the standard trials of dating, mis-communications and balancing work with finding themselves. The lead guy in Clayne Crawford (who has every Ray Liotta facial mannerism down perfect) somewhat carries things but most of the supporting cast is severely stumbling around albeit Warren Christie (a TV movie/series regular) gave a couple of good lines. The picture quality is standard and the Bay shots are grainy at times - but still nice to see. The audio is a standard 5.1 DD but almost too good several times as the outtakes/miscuts left in the film were noticeable (in one scene the car dies but was made to look like it was still driving away - mostly fun flubs though). The filmmakers' only other movie (a short) that is also filmed on BART tops off the extras listed below.

The special features add up to give this 3 star film another bump as the deleted scenes were rightfully cut and the gag reel was enjoyable. Both total less than 30 minutes. R1 coded at 93 minutes. If you can get past some of the overacting and a slightly misplaced ambiguous ending - you will get some enjoyment out of it for the local shots.

This movie turned out to be wayyyyyyyyy better than I expected. Whoa!!! The story line is really sweet. I liked the characters, they all seemed very real and authentic. Great acting, great movie direction, the poetry was really awesome too, wow. I did not expect an indie movie to be this good. The gray characters and the mean characters, wow, they remind me of people I grew up with. Very real and very nicely made movie. I wish they come out with a sequel. There are so many charcters in this movie that I want to know more about. There is so much more to those people than what can be depicted in a short movie. Very thought provoking and I would say, worthy of an Oscar! Full points!!!