Pocket Listing (2016)

Best movie ever!

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.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

This is a fun and relatively clever little film, far from perfect and a bit slow to get going but generally enjoyable overall. What's interesting about it is that it is set in the backdrop of the American real estate crises but somehow it doesn't dwell on the drama of that dilemma. Rather, it spins an energetic crime caper about a Malibu villa and all the players that are trying to sell it for their own very shady reasons. As long as the film stays with this threadline, it works. When it tries to become a bit message oriented with a subplot about a Downtown tenement that's tied to the sale of the house and to the main real estate agent, it loses momentum and becomes less zesty. Fortunately, it maintains enough energy to keep the audience engaged and one most give credit to the younger actors in the film for really carrying it nicely. Lowe and Reynolds have smaller parts but it's really the fresh faced ingenues that make this film pop. Overall, "Pocket Listing" is certainly ambitious, somewhat flawed but undeniably compelling.

Sex, drugs, and... real estate!This film has a little bit of everything... great scenery, beautiful women, nefarious characters, a stunning bombshell, and a suave anti-hero. On a superficial level, the film is more than pleasing to the eyes and exceptionally well directed by Allyn, who transports us into this fantastic world of corrupt characters and fringe players.But what's more impressive about the film is the way it allows you to sympathize and care for the character's arc. The performances are all gold, led by the superb Jurdi as the morally gray broker who learns some life lessons, aided by a great Fahey as a villain you love to hate, a drop dead gorgeous Clark as a simultanously manipulative but vulnerable trophy wife, and veterans Lowe and Reynolds in small but notable roles.But above all, "Pocket Listing" is just a good time. Check it out..

This was just a really enjoyable film from start to finish. It takes unexpected twists and turns throughout the course of its devilishly clever script.Filled with great performances, the story takes us on a wild ride through the Los Angeles real estate scene. Flashy but substantial, it keeps the viewer thoroughly invested, never boring and always throwing new curveballs just when we get comfortable.Films like this can usually get lost in the shuffle of Hollywood blockbuster releases, but hopefully "Pocket Listing" will find the audience it deserves.

They've made great films about Wall Street, bankers, stock brokers, and even insurance salesmen. But not in recent memory has the real estate agent been a prominent film character. Now, we finally have it -- the real estate EPIC, and I'll be darned if it isn't damn good."Pocket Listing" romanticizes and embellishes the lifestyle of gaudy, smooth-talking Los Angeles realtor Jack (brilliantly and subtly played by newcomer Jurdi), who goes from hot tub orgies to cleaning toilets after some double dealing and a ruthless rival (Fahey, coldly terrific) contribute to his demise. As one of the film's main messages makes itself clear, you're only one deal away from hitting the jackpot or going bust.The hook of the film is how it shrewdly presents parallel universes within the same town, showing major contrasts between Jack's lifestyle over the course of a short period of time. In that sense, the film becomes not just a character journey but also the story of a city, presenting a hodge podge of different characters from varying ends of the economic spectrum. Some are filthy rich, others are dirt poor, and a few may be somewhat criminal- - but they are all chasing the American Dream of infinite excess and uninhibited desires. The American Dream has assumed many forms in cinema, but in "Pocket Listing" it embodies itself in the shape of a lavish, truly spectacular Malibu villa which just happens to be all of the characters' ticket to the big time. Watching Jack climb back out of the abyss and eventually take on the dangerous comeback attempt involving not just the house but also its owners -- a smooth as silk but oh so dangerous Rob Lowe and an extremely tempting femme fetal (newcomer Clark, chewing up the scenery here and looking to die for) -- makes up for the film's relentlessly engaging latter half. The plot twists and unexpected developments pile up as the story reaches its explosive climax.It's tough to really place "Pocket Listing" in terms of pure genre. It's a combination of funny, sad, thrilling, sexy, and even at times unexpectedly moving. As far as light crime films go, this one's a hell of a good deal.