Film: Flypaper (2011)

Thoughts: This movie has a script that I want to write. I want to write like this movie. I'm not saying I wish I wrote this, but goddamn if it doesn't get me fired up to put fingers to keys. Flypaper is snappy, Flypaper is funny, its characters are fully dimensional (for the most part) and on the whole, it's just a damn fine, entertaining piece of cinema, that no one has seen (and that the internet seems to hate, considering the IMDb and Metacritic rating).

First up is the stellar cast. Patrick Dempsey "heads" the roster (and I noticed a producing credit on the opening too), followed by whole bunch of awesome actors that I just cannot be bothered listing here (just go here). The story concerns a bank that gets robbed by two separate teams at the same time during end-of-day proceedings. What follows is a manic, slapstick, rapid-fire and insane sequence of events that leads to many dead bodies and many twists and turns.

I can safely say that if any of this doesn't grab you, than you might as well skip to your next viewing choice. But if you're willing to give this little fishbowl-type film a shot, I hope you'll be as entertained as I was during the 87min or so runtime. Of note is the two heist crews- one obviously well trained and well versed in the art of the heist, and the other quite clearly in the business of makin' a quick buck. The stupid crew of two is played to perfection by Tim Blake Nelson and Pruitt Taylor Vince, nicknamed Peanut Butter & Jelly for street cred. The two hicks are basically crash test dummies for the various explosives, bullets and other assorted mishaps that the script dumps on top of them, but that insanity and absurdity is just what plays into the fun.

And yet, that is just the tip of the iceberg- both in terms of actors and scriptwork. You have heist experts waxing angrily about how they can't retire because of the recession (and he just paid $8000 for his kids' braces!), and unmedicated idiot savants constantly stealing important items so as to bargain for clues. You have criminals comparing their numbered listing on the FBI database as a means of pride and identification (because they don't use their real names, obviously) and leery ex-con security guards hitting on everything that moves. And once again, barely scratching the surface.

So yeah, give it a go. I certainly was surprised and enjoyed myself immensely. And it's much better than wasting 3 hours on something not nearly as funny, that's for sure.

4.5/5