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Don's Plum

Don's Plum (2001)

February. 10,2001
|
5.6
| Drama

A group of Los Angeles teenagers meets daily at their local diner hangout to discuss their latest misadventures and miserable lives.

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Reviews

Matialth
2001/02/10

Good concept, poorly executed.

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JinRoz
2001/02/11

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

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CrawlerChunky
2001/02/12

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

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Deanna
2001/02/13

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

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WakenPayne
2001/02/14

In spite of everything that has been said about this movie Don's Plum is not terrible. It is probably one of the most notorious unreleased movies ever made simply because of Leo and Tobey Maguire trying to block it and to be quite honest, I have no idea why and this is after watching it from start to finish in it's entirety.The plot, many friends try to get dates where they go to this hangout place at a diner, they talk about sex, drugs and all other kinds of stuff. There really isn't all that much else to say about the plot mainly because this movie is minimalist, the only other thing of note is that it sometimes cuts to a character's internal thoughts which is them talking in a bathroom mirror with scratchy audio.Okay, I'll say all the things I found wrong with this movie. Some stuff is really speratic and right the hell out of nowhere. One of the character's close to final notes is an internal thought described above where she was molested as a kid... That's not the kind of stuff to just bring up and throw away. It also makes out in the opening that Amber Benson is the lead when she's not. After trashing a car a half hour in we never see her again. Tobey Maguire has some really awkward line deliveries (although, why he sees this as more embarrassing than the dancing in Spiderman 3?... I have no clue) And at the end I feel as though in spite of the character insight nothing really was accomplished, like this is how these kids spend every Saturday night. That could work if it was a short movie but it's not.Okay now to address the elephant in the room. There are many stories to suggest why this movie was never released and to be quite honest I can debunk so many of them. It was claimed Leo had a nude scene and claimed he was bisexual in this movie. Is Scott Bloom really the spitting image of Leo that you can't tell the difference? It was also claimed that it would ruin Maguire and Leo's image at the time, well today Leo has an Oscar and played FAR more unpleasant characters than some misogynistic prick that spends the entire movie putting people down (so I wouldn't think if released today it would harm his image) and with Maguire, he's usually a peacekeeper in those situations, as I may have said he's a little awkward - sure but I think that's deliberate. So I honestly don't know why they don't release it now because problems aside it can be pretty interesting to watch even without the crap in this paragraph.Okay, the good things. Well the acting from all involved is pretty good and while I know it was mostly improvised I feel as though it did come across pretty damn good. I get the story is trying to be this deconstruction of the characters and their relationships with one another and while as I said that was rushed that idea is pretty intriguing. While it's also in black and white the cinematography at times can be really good.So if you want me to be honest, had this been released properly I probably wouldn't have watched it but I'm glad I did mainly because of the stuff I've said above. To be quite honest if you're looking for reasons why this is the most personally despised film of Leo and Maguire's respective careers I personally think it's a head-scratcher. It's just a minimalist drama that seemed to be doing what Clerks did but instead got a lot of flak from either the media's coverage of the lawsuit or word of mouth from those events. If you can find a copy, if ANYTHING of what I've described above is your thing, while the characters aren't really likable I'd suggest watching it.

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majajelepoime
2001/02/15

I've just seen this movie and I figured out that I missed a lot cause I didn't watch it earlier. Movie is fantastic. I can't believe this is an movie made in U.S. Actually, this movie is a pure piece of art. It is so realistic and brutal and made with kind of "fake documentary" camera that it will just blow your mind. Black and white technique gives more reality looking of this story. I don't know why this movie is banned in U.S. and Canada but if you are looking for pure drama and excellent acting, this is movie on the list you must see. Brilliant acting of Leonardo and all of the others. I've never hear for name of this director but I am sure that he is such a big artist. I warm recommend Don's Plum to everyone who is over 15 years and who makes different between "art and soap". I like it.

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Serpentijn
2001/02/16

When I rented this film, I was not aware that it was hard to get. I thought it hadn't released in the cinema in Belgium because it was too dark and had simple ended up in a dim corner of the rental place. I didn't have too high expectations. Afterwards I checked for user comments here and felt people were being a bit too harsh. It is true that impact is a little bit lost sometimes because it's hard to relate with the characters. It's hard to admit for anyone that they've asked out a 'friend' sometimes just for accompaniment and self-gratification like the characters seem to do in this film. But I'm a 100 % sure that everyone has done it at least once in their life. This film is hard to watch cause it takes this very aspect of relationships and puts in under a magnifying glass. I even had to interrupt watching it, cause the brutality was making me nervous. I think the film is good in the way that it had it's desired effect. It's not your cup of tea if you want to watch something entertaining, something fun with your friends. Acting is very interesting. Because it mainly plays in the same room and the film is in black and white attention is focused on the words, and even more on the gestures and facial expressions of the characters. It's worth watching if you want to watch something that's not main stream. I hope I've helped constructing the right expectations for this film.

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richy29
2001/02/17

SPOILERS AHEADI completely missed the discussion about this movie being 'banned' from the theaters in the US. I don't think it's a big loss though. There's just too many Big Topics in this movie to be dealt with in 96 minutes. At least for this director and/or his team of writers. Stories and confessions that are supposed to have a lot of impact, just fall flat. And before you know it there was another member of the cast sharing a terrible secret. In the end I just went: 'Oh dear, so your father killed himself. Bad luck, bro...'The acting was interesting though. I've never been a Leo fan and that didn't change after seeing Don's Plum. But I thoroughly enjoyed Toby Maguire as a total wacko. Meadow Sisto was very convincing too, although her character was rather dull. The gimmick with the bathroom mirrors worked well in the beginning. But the novelty wore off rather quickly and it soon turned into nothing more than that: a gimmick. And of course it matters a lot who's in front of the mirror. Some of the performances (like the 'Okay, so I was abused!' scene or the 'hurt hippie' sequence) were just pathetic. I'd say see it if you're a fan of one or more of the cast members. But don't go out of your way to get hold of it. It's just not a good movie.

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