Stories USA (2007)

Sadly Over-hyped

Powerful

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

I can't believe the shockingly low star rating this movie has received. An oddity, this is the most underrated one I've seen on the IMDb site. People have really misjudged this film. Yes, the film is very shoddily filmed, I won't disagree with that, but if you look into the heart and truth of the stories, the film is really thought provoking and has a cutting reality, especially as far as alienation is concerned. The film basically presents characters of hopelessness, despair, no more evident and affecting than in the last story, that really hits home with loneliness, about a lonely office clerk woman, who really got to me, and almost had me reaching for my Kleenex. She's reached that point of suicide, not the only used person, in her office, with the same agenda, in a story that's not only sad, but quite comically clever. The film's stories are told in very clever ways, like the first and second one, especially with Carrell. He and Paris are the standout performers in this show. I watched it for the late Paul Walker, and I have never seen an actor, more wasted in a movie, for what little time he had. What a downer? He should of never even bothered, as he was just there for his good looks. Character wise, he almost had nothing to work with. Josh Harnett's film, of endless dreary, and quiet bad monologue, I must say was quite mesmerizing. Noted, Stories U.S.A does have it's problems, low budget really showing, but if you look into the reality of the stories, there's some quite worthwhile and thought provoking stuff to pick up on. It's boring and paining end credit, run running at a near ten minutes, is almost as long as Star Wars, with really an hour, fifteen minute kill time pic. And I'll be honest, there's a lot other worse ways to kill time, than this, really worth the view, pic.

Let me preface this by saying that I am a great appreciator of short films and short film collections. Any collection of short films presented as a feature presentation is going to run high risk of being uneven, but I'm able to judge it solely on the sum of its parts. And in this case, the sum is woefully meager. Each film is thinly plotted with ludicrous or non-existent conclusions. The distributors clearly scrapped together any short film they could find with a familiar face, and use those names to market the assembled product. They have two other collections that follow this same principle. Its obvious the distributor has no appreciation for the short film form and is just looking to make a quick buck. That in itself is a greater offense than any of these forgettable shorts alone. Anyone seeking a quality short film collection would be better served by any of the recent Oscar-nominated short compilations, or the web site Short of the Week.

I'd like to warn everybody before watching this piece of crappy movie. As the others writing a review here, I saw this DVD due to the great cast. Josh Hartnett, James Gandolfini, Steve Carrell, Paul Walker, Lois Gossett Jr., Joe Mantegna and even the others like young Stephen R. McQueen are doing their acting OK, but everyone knows that even great actors struggle when they are getting a bad manuscript and bad instruction from a bad director.They must all have been lured into this, and the result is not only wrong marketed on the DVD-cover as a Crash-like movie. The move is some kind of mush mash of old Ames and archive footage with quite different quality. It's also some stupid kind of fantasy involved here, in what really tries to be some kind of comedy. And this is one which isn't at all funny, not even unwillingly funny.In addition to that this is really a gathering of short movies put together as one. Not without some talent hidden somewhere here, but as a movie this deserves no other character than a 1 out of 10 stars. Some of the footage is both badly lighted and with bad technical sharpness and quality. When the film also is full of foul language and lines containing incestuous suggestions, and lots of swearing.The directors, there are two of them, is Erik MacArthur and David Brooks, and should find something else to do. Save yourself a shitty time, and avoid this movie. It's got nothing you need to see, except great actors embarrassing themselves in the hands of what they might have believed was professional directors.

"Instead of the end maybe we just found the beginning." A series of short movies that involve people looking for meaning in their lives. This is a movie filled with symbolism, most of it I am not smart enough to fully get. Like "Guilty Hearts" this is a series of movies that have the same idea but are not connected. Unlike "Guilty Hearts" this one is easy to watch. There is really not much to review here as it is not a typical movie. If you are into art-house like independent movies this is a great one to watch. The cast and acting is great, the movie is OK, if you like this kind of thing. Overall, not bad, but again this is the type of movie that only appeals to certain people. I give it a B-.Would I watch again? - I doubt it.*Also try - Guilty Hearts & New York I Love You