Hit by Lightning (2014)

SPOILER ALERT! ...Halfway through the movie, the popcorn still tasted fine and my only concern ping-ponged between Jon Cryer and the script. While his character, Ricky, was essentially a reprise of Cryer's character on "Two And a Half Men" ... I was left wondering if he was actually miscast. Could someone else have played Ricky's role better? Steve Buscemi was alluded to in the film. Buscemi playing Ricky? THAT would be hilarious. But Cryer should be nailing this role, the movie should be more memorable than the sitcom. Alas, I must put the "NEEDS MORE FUNNY" post-it on this one.Then the writing came off the rails. Why does the ending fall flat? Because we've already seen the Stephanie Szostak character, Donita, leave Ricky for 10 days. Her nine-month disappearance after the shooting is just more of the same. The story needs a more convincing second plot-point pay-off.Solution! ... Following the church scene where Ricky secretly meets Donita, have the cop (Ricky's relative) bust Ricky and Donita. Perhaps while the cop was visiting another 'family tree member' at the cemetery, he saw the grave Ricky dug and puts it all together. Tighter than the "crazy serial killer confessing to the wrong murder" excuse.Ricky and Donita go to court. They get a hard judge who goes soft. Donita gets 4 years, Ricky gets 5-and-a-half for pulling the trigger. Their love is now tested by a new element -- the only thing love truly desires: time. Ricky lamented about time before. Now he HAS something to wait for. Even jail is better than managing at Debby's. Ricky has plenty of time to write ... sappy love poetry? Fast forward to four years later. Donita visits Ricky everyday in jail. Silly conjugal visits. Revise the earlier runner about "I love you plus infinity" and close movie with Ricky and Donita in the prison visiting room, their palms pressed together against the glass partition, Donita tearing up, saying, "I love you plus ... how many days are there in 18 months?" to which Ricky quickly replies, "547 ... counting the leap year."

So.. Um, this wasn't funny. Or very entertaining.Yes, I saw this pretty much just because of Ala..uhm..Jon Cryer. I like 'Two and a half men'. Liked. I like Jon Cryer.But this movie, though..? I still don't know what it tries to be. I almost can't even remember what happens. I remember one thing about Jon Cryer, but I guess you could count that as a spoiler if I said more, so I won't. I try to stay spoiler free.He does an alright job. so does that big dude from 'The three stooges'-remake. Or, alright, I don't know.. Not a particularly bad job.This movie is just really boring, nothing cool happens, not much happens at all, really. I can't remember what happens. You know, just don't watch it. The gun intrigued me, but I don't remember what it was for. I don't remember why I gave it a 4, not a 3, but I trust my former self.

Well, there seems to be a real lack of decent "date" movies and/or Rom-Coms lately, so whenever I see one that looks promising, I give it a try. I really didn't know what to expect, as I'd never heard of this movie.It wasn't exactly very believable, but hey, it's a MOVIE. However, whomever did the makeup effects on Jon Cryer should never work in Hollywood. There is a BIG difference between "Balding" and "Mange." Honestly, the poor guy looked like someone had given him a haircut with a freakin' weed-whacker. I've been around many balding men and they never look like that. Sheesh. The premise of the movie is a knock-off of every movie where there's some pathetic loser that some "10" becomes involved with and asks them to do their bidding. This one had a twist or two, but still predictable.The characters even mention "Body Heat" as being very true to what was going on in the movie. The character played by Will Sasso was the one I liked, but was disappointed with the most. I think the character had a chance to really run off with the movie (please?), but Mr. Sasso reigned himself in. Pity. Overall: Not offensive. Not believable. Not high tech (thank god; I'm sick to death of those). Not particularly clever or that amusing. Did catch the jibe about Ashton Kutcher at the end. Ha ha.

HBL has Jon Cryer (Two and a Half Men) as Ricky, a man entering his forties without love and soon without hair. Ricky and his best friend Seth (Will Sasso - MadTV) have been best friends forever and muse over the chances of each actually finding their soul mate. He just wants to find someone special - and he does in Danita (Stephanie Szostak). Ricky joins an online dating site and seems to have found his. Needless to say things aren't quite what they seem and soon Ricky finds himself in a quandary straight out of a 1940s film noir.Hit by Lightning has a little too much a feel of TV about it to really fly, though it's got pace and a good script - personally I would have liked some filters and feeling of film, it is shot and lit very directly.It is a nice movie to wile away some time to - Cryer is good in his way and this small film plays to his strengths - it's the sort of film that you can watch on a plane and enjoy.