Flypaper (1998)

From my favorite movies..

best movie i've ever seen.

A Major Disappointment

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Heed the advice of those comparing it poorly to Pulp Fiction. It is clearly trying very hard to imitate the the style of that movie, as many filmmakers were attempting at that time. It fails miserably at it. In fact, it fails miserably at even matching the low quality of "Two Days In The Valley", another piece of cinematic crap which failed miserably at attempting to imitate Pulp Fiction. (OTOH, "Two Days" is far more disappointing than "Flypaper" due to its stellar cast.) If you enjoy movies like Pulp Fiction, or Get Shorty, or Fargo, or Snatch, then see THOSE movies. This movie is a total waste of time. Plus, to add insult to injury, the multiple story lines have no payoff. They end in the middle of nowhere like unfinished highways miles before they reach a destination.

Okay, I'm pretty sure I am the only person in the entire world who liked that movie. And no, before you ask, I'm not a die-hard Lucy Liu fan. Admittedly, this movie was riddled with problems, but I think Quentin Tarantino said it best when he commented on Brian DePalma's "Bonfire of the Vanities" that it takes a director of quality to make a truly disastrous film. A hack wouldn't doesn't take the risks that failed to pay off in Flypaper. That being said, I have to wonder why a film like Flypaper falls so hard when films like "The Unbelievable Truth" launch a prolific career and a borderline cult following. Though the two films are as different as night and day, they both spring from the same impulse: stepping outside a genre and examining it outside the confines of illusionism. For all the griping that goes on about unoriginal, cookie-cutter genre pieces, shouldn't we have just a little generosity when a director has the guts to break the mold? Personally, I was hooked after the very first scene. Anyone can be outrageous. Anyone can be true-to-life. Combining the two takes brass balls, and Klaus Hoch has got him. For sure he's willing to throw a bucket of gratuitous sex and violence in our face, but, believe it or not, there is something rustling behind the curtains in Flypaper. No, we are not supposed to take anything anyone says in the film without a whopping grain of salt. That's part of the point. Every single character is a walking contradiction, a grotesque hybrid of celluloid and flesh. But -God help me, I know this is where I'll lose you- isn't that what it's always been about? We go to the movies. We rent DVDs. We sit back and watch human beings transformed (at best) into morons and (at worst) objects. It's a twisted zero-sum game, and it mirrors real life in ways we don't even want to think about. Flypaper is compared unfavorably with Pulp Fiction and various Cohen Brother films, perhaps because there is no warmth or adulation, no well-thought-out view from nowhere. Essence absolutely refuses to precede existence. These characters are going to do some very stupid, pointless things, and there is no redemption, no "correct" path for them to return to, not even a solid realization of their sad, silly condition.

Great story on several levels of ripoffs, backstabbing and deception. Perfectly acted parody of LA life, very funny and understated. Excellent performances especially from the 3 actresses - Lucy Alexis Liu, Talisa Sota, and Sadie Frost. Very much in the same vein as '2 Days in the Valley' (1996). Some strange sex scenes and the violence is almost comical. 3 separate but interconnected story lines occurring on a sunny LA day centered around 1 million dollars in cash, inspire the quirky characters to commit a litany of depraved and devious acts. Not a well known movie, but a little gem if you can track it down - well worth watching.

I admit that my expectations of this film were not very high when my friend brought it to me to watch. I had the impression this was some sort of soft porn flick, and figured the plot would be banal at best!To my surprise, however, Flypaper is one of the most enjoyable films I've seen in quite a long time. Maybe because my expectations were so low, I found myself absorbed in the plot before I realized what was happening. Everyone did a fine job with their characters, and the little twists and turns kept my interest up all the way to the end.Warning: Possible spoilers!I admit, however, to being rather disappointed by the end. Especially with two rather unresolved circumstances. I wanted to know what happened to the couple making love in the swimming pool with the snakes. I wanted to know what became of Craig S character after they pulled the knife out! Okay, but I'm just being picky. I highly recommend this for anyone who's tired of the big budget, FX loaded box office fair!