Hi-Life (1998)

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Fresh and Exciting

Excellent but underrated film

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

I loved the fact that the producers of Hi-Life used real Upper West Side locations in this film, including the Hi-Life itself. It tugged at the heartstrings of this former UWS resident, now exiled to Atlanta. The movie itself was tolerable -- mainly because Peter Riegert was in it. Can't have enough Peter Riegert in a movie, as far as I'm concerned. The rest of the cast was amiable, if not very energetic. The story -- which could have been quite clever, with various folks chasing the same $900 for a variety of unethical reasons -- floundered in the face of lackadaisical pacing and cramped, dark cinematography.

I came across this movie late one night when insomnia had me flipping the channels at 4am. I thought it was really rather funny. It had a bizarre set-up and then a very tight ensemble cast, and storylines that took the characters in and out of a series of New York City bars. Campbell Scott is very good in the film. And Moira Kelly is a cutie, as always.

This has to be, to my knowledge, the only christmas/abortion comedy ever made. Featuring splendid performances by Charles Durning as a hen-pecked love lorn bar owner, Eric Stoltz as the self-absorbed actor, and Campbell Scott as the bitter ex of Daryl Hannah, this film continually surprised and delighted me. Filmed in New York City by John Thomas (of Whit Stillman and "Sex in the City" fame) the city has never looked crisper or more inviting. The plot is wacky- a subplot involving two wacky ambulance drivers is particularly silly- but also has a wandering tone that careers from touching to bizarre, in the way that all good independent films do. Featuring the angriest Jewish santa clause ever filmed, rousingly played by Dean Cameron of "Ski School" fame. Worth a look!

I didn't absolutely hate this movie, but I kept waiting for it to get better and it never did. I think I may have laughed once, but now I can't even remember what for.My wife didn't even make it through the first fifteen minutes without falling asleep. Unfortunately, I sat through the entire thing.Actually, I can see a slight twist of humor in that so many of the characters were intertwined... almost like a soap opera where everyone turns out to be related. Still on a scale of 1 to 10, the best I could give it would be a 3.I guess I just expected more from this movie, especially since there were good actors and actresses involved. (Daryl Hannah, Moira Kelly, etc.) I've certainly seen worse movies, but this one did absolutely nothing for me.