Flakes (2007)

Film Perfection

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.

I really enjoyed this. It's a fun, quirky flick with a fun, quirky cast, and the music/set was very well done. The two leads, Aaron Stanford and Zooey Deschanel, had great chemistry and both carried their roles with style and skill; Deschanel is hilariously adorable as always, and Stanford gives his character, Neal, a lovable, believable charm. The concept itself is quite cool as well, I thought; what other movie is about competing *cereal bars*? While the "Franchises = BAD" message is sort of smacked in your face throughout the film, it's definitely worth the occasional eyeroll. Basically, if you're looking for a movie that will make you laugh out loud, have you rooting for a happy ending and leave you smiling when it's over, 'Flakes' is for you.

Watching this, i was not expecting much. I have to say i was pleasantly surprised. During the start of the film i was left in awe at how cool the actual set was, the cereal bar is a work of mise en scene genius. But even with an exciting set a film can still be rubbish.Flakes is not as quirky as it looks. It's dialogue is impressive and the performances are understated and all work perfectly with the story, see Skinny Larry and Winston. There are moments that made me laugh, granted it was more of a chuckle than a hysterical laugh. The thing that strikes me the most about this movie is how well the writers formulated their characters. All very well judged with good casting in them, the only role i was left wondering about was that of Strawberry as she was pretty pointless. Christopher Lloyd is awesome in this, i read on another comment that Christopher Lloyd does his usual but if you grew up watching him as Doc, this really isn't his usual.Good characters, good premise, original storytelling and the ever lovely Zooey Deschanel. This is worth a watch, it is not a groundbreaking concept, it will not blow your brains out, it will not keep you on the edge of your seat, however it will charm you and leave you thinking about it. Well it did for me at least.

I thought this movie was pretty good. Yes, It may be trying a bit hard and the acting may not be top rate but at least it has some originality to it which is more than I can say for most movies out there. Yes it is cheezy and far fetched but it leaves you with a good feeling in the end. Who knows why someone would open up a cereal restaurant across the street from another but who knows why TV executives throw the best shows on at the same time or why there are 3 million Starbucks or 7-11s half of which are on the same block.This is a fun movie, Not great but good all in all. I wish I could give it an extra star to combat the negative reviews but I can not. Solid 6, and in my opinion worth watching if you have nothing better to do.Cheers, -=db=-

Michael Lehmann's new film, Flakes, could have been a quirky comedy, centered on a new type of concept "cereal" bar. Instead, it tries too hard to be a romantic comedy with a quirky setting, and unfortunately, doesn't really deliver anything romantic or comedic. I mean, the setting really is great. And the overlying plot--young entrepreneur threatens to Starbuck over a local establishment with a local following--might have worked, if the film had been completely different.But instead of focusing on the fact that these guys live, eat and breathe cereal, Lehmann decides to cliché it all up by introducing the same old, badly written girl-wants-slackerboy-to-quit working-his-dead-end-job-and-focus-on-his-aspiring-music-career theme. And because of this, we never really get to learn that much about cereal, or what great toys come out of cereal boxes, or really anything cool at all. We do get some slack-off acting and a shameful appearance by Christopher Lloyd. All-in-all, it's a waste of time and plays more like a badly written sitcom than an actual feature film.