Bending All the Rules (2002)

I've heard of TV sitcoms about "nothing" but never a movie. If I managed to make sense of the ending, the movie was a young woman whose parents had a dysfunctional relationship, thus she herself is unable to commit to a relationship. However, even with such a thin premise, the movie is astoundingly devoid of anything that would draw a viewer in. The acting is cringe-worthy, led by Coleen Porch as Kenna. Just because you have a pout that resembles Angelina Jolie doesn't mean you don't need to emote. She displays one expression the entire movie, befuddled amusement.There's some decent cinematography but the direction is abysmal. It's as if Coleman Francis was given the script to Hobgoblins. In fact, there's a nightclub scene that nearly plumbs the same depths as the similar scene in Hobgoblins. Is it really possible to speak to the club DJ, across the room, using your indoor voice, while in a "hopping" club? Avoid this turkey at all costs.

This independent film doesn't follow the usual Hollywood prescribed script with the neat and tidy happy ending for all. I think that's why I enjoyed it so much. It was unpredictable. The film follows a young woman and shows us some of the choices she makes - most of them heavily influenced by her upbringing. Rather than have the character of Kenna experience some cathartic change and start on a new path in life, the movie simply unravels the course that she in on and ultimately continues on. It may not be as polished as a block buster, but it has charm. Top acting and the filming was beautiful. The carny scenes interspersed throughout the film were entertaining all on their own - some great characters hidden in there.

If you are an aspiring independent filmmaker, you must see this film. It will give you immense optimism when you see how low the bar must be to get a film into distribution. How they got Bradley Cooper to do this movie is beyond comprehension. The production quality of this film is abhorrent. The editing is amateurish, the fades ill-timed and misplaced. As to the sound, there is a scene where they tried to overdub the dialog and it looks like a Japanese Godzilla moment. There are moments when the audio is tinny and distant. And that is before you get to the essence itself. The protagonist character has no redeeming virtues. She is portrayed as a whiny, slutty, incessantly complaining, baggage-laden woman and it belies belief that the two male characters would have any reason to be infatuated with her. We simply do not care whether she redeems herself, and one is compelled to yell to Bradley Cooper to get out of there…both her bedroom and the movie. There is a particularly pretentious attempt at a montage that fails miserably…a crane shot above an empty art gallery where the protagonist is having her debut…the director shows the crowd filtering into the gallery..with interminable lingering on the small crowd, then dissolve to a small crowd, followed by a still small crowd, followed by…a still small crowd…as if they just couldn't get enough extras to sacrifice themselves on the altar of this embarrassingly misguided effort. The final assault comes in the form of the script. Most of the actors...Cooper excepted... look as if they are reciting lines off a cue card. The closing scene voice over is incomprehensible and leaves you shaking your head to remove the glaze from your eyes. To get this film sold to Liongate and into distribution, there had to be some very serious "Bending of the Rules"

I got this movie since the cover looked good and I do enjoy Bradley Cooper. The child actors (especially the girl) are terrible. The cinematography is like a bad 80s made for TV picture and the quality of film changes from scene to scene. The sound is bad and in some scenes sounds like your in a room with a bad echo. The lighting is inconsistent and changes within a scene. I have no idea what the plot is. After an hour I had to turn it off, something I've rarely ever done. The acting done by the Cooper and the main actress was fine, they obviously know what they are doing, and it simply highlights when bad actors come in. Its just bad.