Purpose (2002)

About the only good thing I can say about "Purpose" is it does try to deliver a message about what's important in life on the heels of a boom/bust cycle of a new generation of materialistic status-oriented X-gen yuppies with dot-coms in their eyes. As a film, "Purpose" tries too hard to be hip with a script packed with buzz words and comtempo cliches and some guy who looks like Ray Liotta's kid as an upwardly mobile hotshot Bill Gates wannabee in the lead. Obviously the product of a newbie auteur, "Purpose" doesn't build much depth in its characters, is waaaay too cute, and seems to be little more than a slick new wrapper on an old story. Pass on this one unless maybe you're a computer geek who aspires to be another Micheal Dell or Steve Jobs. (C)

Purpo$e is a roller coaster ride through the lifecycle of a dot.com company, during the recent bull market. The film is particularly relevant, and perfectly well timed, given, the recent Enron / Andersen disasters. Purpose is slick and stylish, and should appeal to audiences who appreciate a good story line, excellent dialogue, great camera work, along with a terrific score. This movie is much better than most of the usual trash that is spewed out of Hollywood year after year.Purpo$e is an updated combination of `Wall Street ` and `Glengarry Glenn Ross' - greed and excess, along with the implied (although maybe not maliciously intended) `con is always on'. It is both entertaining, and thought provoking, which is a rare combination for any type of film.Purpo$e forces you to examine the decisions of otherwise intelligent, rational and sophisticated investors (and individuals), during the 90s..and what's particularly interesting is that maybe this analysis is actually introspection on ourselves.My favorite scene, was John Elias attempting to convince a Mexican fisherman how, he could catch more fish, in order to be able to do exactly what he was already doing - standing on a beach fishing.Look out for some clever, well placed cameos (Ronnie Apteker) amongst others.Congratulations to Alan & Ronnie, and everyone involved for a great piece of work.

This movie had a purpose. It got me thinking about the purpose of my life, and it did so with energy, colour and style. The story is fast and exciting, and the dialog is very clever. A very good piece of story telling about the dot com era of easy come, easy go.

I liked this story very much, especially in a time where greed and money seem to be the front page themes of our national headlines lately. Purpo$e did a good job of posing the question to it's audience, "Why do you do what you do?" It looked amazing and the pace was sharp. I especially enjoyed Hal Holbrook as the Old Money Tycoon. Alan Lazar did a very good job in his feature debut and I look forward to his future projects.