That's It (2008)

I'll tell you why so serious

Don't listen to the negative reviews

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

"Apenas o Fim" is a very well done movie. The characters are smart and easy going, as much as the dialogs. I must completely disagree with Felipepepe's review about this movie. Tom and his (ex)- girlfriend are deep characters, with frustrations and hopes. Of course nerd jokes and pop culture are all over the movie, what in no way might be confused with "Malhação".Tom is trying hard to keep his girlfriend and his own status quo, while she is trying to scape into a brand new life. There are no references to where she's going or from what she's running from, but that is not bad for the movie. Just the end is exactly what it's title says, it's a talk about the past, but a bridge to the future.The side characters are, indeed, unnecessary. But they express PUC. There's no way one can possibly have a long conversation in said university without being interrupted by those kind of people.The end is hard to be watched, as everyone expects Tom to convince her of staying. But she walks away in a beautiful scene. There's no looking back.

The film well is directed and bold for Brazilian standards, although could be more daring, but the script is weak, an attempt to create a Brazilian "Clerks".The characters are ambulant clichés, without inspiration, and no personality, changing with the necessity of the director to show some emotion or feeling. Any another character besides the two main ones simply shouldn't exist… they only interrupt the narrative in a tiring and boring way.But the film really loses with its pop references. They are pathetic, out of context, and extremely dated (the joke of the Dick Dastardly - Dick Vigarista - must have 20 years).There was no effort in fusing the references with the script, they are just tossed in, as a "Top 10 Cliché Nerd Jokes" in a internet forum. And these jokes have been around for years… simply throwing them in a film script is to offend the viewer.My guess is that the movie was only praised by older people (that doesn't know these jokes) and by die-hard nerds (that went "OMG, a Transformers joke!!!LOL"). The ending just show how hollow the characters are. Since they appear to have no constant personality, is impossible to figure out what the ending was supposed to mean. And it was done way better by other movies.Although brave, the attempt to "portray a generation" , as the movie was sold, its only a weak, "wannabe-cult" version of "Malhação" (brazilian long-running soup-opera about college years).

The plot is about having no plot at all. Pointless dialog makes you wonder how long this boring movie will take. Maybe it would be a kind of nice movie as a short subject. Nothing with more than 15-20 minutes. I guess that the worst of all is the failed attempt do make a woody allen movie, like many tried but only one succeeded. In fact, it's a attempt to mix both richard linklater and woody allen styles in a poorly script. The camera stands for seveal minutes in one static shot as the dialog goes in a random and silly way to make the running time hit the 'feature length'. Maybe the director made the movie with all the respect toward mr. allen's filmography, but in the end, is nothing more than a useless wanabe-something movie.I hope this comment can be useful...sincerely,