Awful Nice (2013) Reviews

• Best movie I've ever seen about brotherhood

  josecanter2015-11-05

  Imagine Step Brothers meets Mouse Hunt; that's Awful Nice. Sibling rivalries are ripe territory for comedies. It's the sort of situation where years-long resentments boil over and make a general mess of things. It's funny because it's family, and it's more spiteful because it's family, and there's just a bit of sadness in there too (since it's family). There's an example of this early on in Awful Nice. Jim (James Pumphrey) and Dave (Alex Rennie) are the squabbling siblings in question. They're having dinner with family following their dad's funeral. After a toast, Jim and Dave sip their champagne. They they eye each other, they realize that they're inexplicably trying to gulp their champagne faster. The champagne done, they each pick up their glasses of beer. Then the water. The race continues with a gravy boat. And then they try to beat the s**t out of each other as their relatives look on shocked. (There's an Alonzo Mourning rookie card involved in this too, one that I may have in a box somewhere.) These kinds of absurd escalations into slapstick (and cartoon violence) are what Awful Nice does Best. That isn't to say it's dialog driven humor isn't spot on as well. There's a certain quickness to the back and forths between the two brothers in this movie that reminds me of Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn in Swingers. The dialogue comes fast, the insults and jabs arrive quicker, and there's a sense of personality that arises from comic beat to comic beat. Beyond the verbal and physical comedy in Awful Nice, there's a good knack for little details and sight gags. There's the pet tarantula in the opening scene which helps lend an extra layer of sordidness to what Dave's life in the tepee must have been like. A later throwaway moment involving Tabasco sauce also builds a sense of rough-and-tumble history. In the background in an office scene, there's a piece of art featuring a bear driving a speedboat. Awful Nice shoots from gag to gag rapidly, which makes the movie breeze by, but the last third feels like it's maybe lacking something toward the end. It's not bad and it thankfully doesn't become sentimental in an unearned way. They could have easily gone there, but the movie is resistant to such easy, feel-good moments that would undermine the bitterness of it's main relationship. I think that's admirable, actually, since it'd be easy to go for some easy emotional beat and wrap up the film with a bow. But the resolution does come a little too easy and it's not as satisfying as everything that leads up to it. In some ways what happens is telegraphed well in advance, and for a film where the jokes seem to come out of nowhere, something that I could see coming feels a bit disappointing. In that respect, I wish the plot was treated more like the jokes in the film, that there'd be a sense of surprise to both the set-up and the punchline. And yet I can't completely hold this movie's faults against it, since it did it's job as a comedy and as a story. It made me laugh throughout, and it made me care about the characters, and ultimately, that's what matters. I highly recommend giving this movie a spin at your local Netflix.

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• Like a comedy from the 90's.

  w-turnige2015-11-06

  Could be the funniest film I've seen in 5-6 years... Like it consistently killed me with laughter, to the point that I actually missed things because I was laughing so hard. The relationship of the brothers hinges on perfection and the dialogue is snappy with a consistent edge of hilarity. Not sure how it hasn't become a word of mouth hit like Foot Fist Way or Wet Hot American Summer. I suppose that's more a sign of the times than anything else, but seriously, this movie is friggin' hilarious. I don't get why it has so many poor ratings. I laughed from start to finish, and didn't find anything offensive or hard to follow or frustrating or whatever. No qualms with this flick at all. Just good times, and the kept rolling. Everyone should run to their Netflix and watch this movie.

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• A very pleasant surprise

  hammockbill2015-11-03

  I don't understand how more people aren't talking about this movie. Awful Nice has to be one of the funniest movies I've seen since I was kid. It's not at all perfect, but it's absolutely hilarious, and just goes for it so hard. I can understand if indie film audiences don't get it. This is more Tommy Boy and It's Always Sunny than it is Sideways or Tiny Furniture (which I like by the way), but I don't understand the mixed reviews and am honestly surprised more people haven't found this film by now. It seems like there's a cult following, but not to the point that you're hearing about it. I first heard about Awful Nice on Doug Loves Movies, and added it to my Netflix Queue that night. I then of course forgot about it for 8 months. Then I saw it on the top ten on the pirate bay (I was just looking, I promise...) and decided I had to finally watch it. Very glad that I did. I laughed my balls off for 90 minutes straight. It reminded me at points of Step Brothers and Wet Hot American Summer, and in a different (and almost certainly worse) universe it would be a huge studio comedy starring Jason Sudekis and Paul Rudd. It a better universe, this would've been the next Swingers or Foot Fist Way. Maybe it is and I just haven't heard about it. Either way, if you like funny movies, give this a spin. You won't be disappointed.

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• A wonderful mixed bag of low budget production value and hilarious comedy

  crashgrosscup2015-11-03

  I grabbed this as an iTunes 99 cent rental based on the trailer. Aside from Swingers, this was quite possibly the worst production value I've seen in a film with this kind of distribution. The audio quality was terrible, the lighting was amateur, the editing was simple, and overall, it was just really low budget. But I watched the entire film and laughed the entire time. The acting was great, the script was fantastic, and the characters were perfect. The location could not have been better for the story, and the use of music (i.e. Dr. Dog) was spot on. Which all goes to show, when you have a good story and good actors, you could shoot it on VHS and be successful. Film is about storytelling, not resolution or film grain or VFX or all-star casts. This film succeeded in telling a compelling story with flying colors, and made me laugh (hard) for 90 minutes. A+++

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• Stupid Funny Sibling Rivalry

  crystalmh36982014-03-07

  Very funny movie especially if you have a dumba** little brother. It started out the second scene with Dave eating a Deep Fried Breaded Pork Loin Sandwich if you are from Middle America you probably know what I am talking about. It's one of the few things I miss about the Midwest and it looked wonderful. I thought the relationship between the brothers was a lot of fun and yes the fighting was predictable and over the top but I was thoroughly entertained by the ridiculous behavior. There are some very funny and kinda dirty shout outs to the "Wild Things" movie. Christopher Meloni is great as the squirrel loving not so legitimate business partner of Dave and Jim's dearly departed father. Toss in Branson Russian Mafia, prostitutes, a lot of alcohol and a bunch of other silly stuff. Don't take it (or yourself) too seriously and you will have a good time.

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