Quid Pro Quo (2008)

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Director and screenwriter Carlos Brooks' feature film debut which he wrote, is inspired by an idea he had. It premiered in the American Spectrum section at the 24th Sundance Film Festival in 2008, was shot on locations in USA and is an American production which was produced by producers Sarah Pillsbury and Midge Sanford. It tells the story about a man with a paraplegic injury he got from an auto accident in the late 1980s named Isaac Knott who lives in New York, USA and who works for a radio company called Pure and Wise. After being informed by his co-worker named Edie about a caller whom has requested to meet him, Isaac begins working on a story about people who wishes to have their body parts amputated so that they can live their lives in a chair like he does. Distinctly and subtly directed by filmmaker Carlos Brooks, this quietly paced fictional tale which is narrated by the main character and mostly from his point of view, draws an understanding portrayal of an American radio host whom during his investigation of people with several forms of a psychiatric condition called Body integrity identity disorder, acquaints a single woman named Fiona who tells him that she specializes in Chinese art and ice cream. While notable for its distinct and atmospheric milieu depictions, reverent cinematography by cinematographer Michael McDonough, production design by production designer Roshelle Berliner and use of sound, colors and light, this character-driven and narrative-driven story about wannabes, pretenders and persons who for some reason think that the only way they can achieve completeness as human beings is by having an arm or a leg surgically removed, self-deception as a means for self-preservation and possibly sickly or irrational pangs of conscience, depicts a singular study of character and contains a great and timely score by composer Mark Mothersbaugh. This densely psychological, naturally humorous, cinematic and philosophically conversational indie from the late 2000s which is set during an autumn in America in the 21st century, where incomplete fictitious characters makes utopian deals with each other and where a man who claims that his ex-girlfriend named Raine broke up with him because he is a person with a disability and who although not believing in hope, hopes that he will walk again someday, finds a pair of effective shoes and a quid pro quo girl who not only has no apprehensions about him being in a wheelchair but also wishes to be in his situation, is impelled and reinforced by its cogent narrative structure, substantial character development, subtle continuity and the involving acting performances by American actor Nick Stahl and American actress Vera Farmiga. A serene, romantic and surreal narrative feature.

Isaac Knott, played by Nick Stahl is a public radio reporter in New York; he's been in a wheelchair since he was 8, result of an accident that killed his parents. He sets out to investigate a case of extreme Body Integrity Identity Disorder(BIID) not knowing what it is or even that it existed; he discovers there's a subculture of this which he's most curious to try to understand. His character is broken hearted because his ex-girlfriend, also paraplegic, dumped him when he suggested they marry. On his quest to understand BIID, he meets Fiona, played by Vera Farmiga, who he finds interesting and not all that repulsive, considering she appears to be afflicted by BIID and in a progressive stage; she is gorgeous after all, and seduces him.He comes across a pair of shoes he's compelled to own, and when he does put them on he magically gains use of his legs, a freak occurrence that only works when he wears them. Up to this point you may feel, as I did, this movie is not going to be one you'll be interested in seeing to the end; I wouldn't blame you, as the subject lends itself to that. However because I really like Vera Farmiga, I stuck it out; can't think another reason one would. The meeting of the two lead characters is not a chance thing; a deep purpose is at play and unfortunately isn't revealed till late in the movie.The connection of the two leads and that purpose I mentioned was well conceived, I have to admit. You'll also learn about another disorder, hysterical paralysis, thanks to the very good writing by writer/director Carlos Brooks in his debut work. If you have the stomach for that sort of thing watch it, you may learn something. There are unavoidable comparisons one can make to the 1996 David Cronenberg's film Crash, but I won't. I also won't be mentioning or recommending this film to my friends; they may think I'm even more twisted than I sound at times, but I'm not. What I am is a movie buff with a broad interest and if you are as well, you may find it interesting.

Movie about an odd, underground segment, the intellectually passive version of Cronenberg's Crash. People who want to be crippled from the waste down and confined to a wheelchair.It is more than that. It's set within a mystery as to whether a radio reporter is getting lured into a trap or fake story. And unlike Crash, there's no drug connection. It's more psychological, but equally dark, simply without the ambiance and style that Crash had.The downside is that some of it seems too setup and the story under-developed. The result is that it seems less like a theater film and more like a TV movie, but worth watching.

I liked "Quid Pro Quo," a LOT. Do NOT be put off by the subject matter; that's just "local color" for a good, old-fashioned mystery, one that opens up" into not only revelation, but self-revelation. For those who like mystical mysteries, it's even got a pair of magical shoes that perform miracles.The film is what it is not only because of a masterful script, but because of two actors who basically eat the screen with fine performances -- Nick Stahl and Vera Farmiga. Stahl plays a public radio reporter who is semi-paralyzed; the accident in his youth that killed his parents left him in a wheelchair. He gets a tip from an anonymous woman that at a local hospital, a man recently walked in and tried to bribe one of the residents to amputate his leg. Following up on it, he finds that not only is it true, but that there is a subculture out there that *envies* those in wheelchairs, and wants to become like them. They call themselves "wannabees," and have been known to cripple themselves or have others do it for them so that they can live their "inner dream" of being confined to a wheelchair themselves.His investigation leads him to a mysterious and beautiful young woman, played by Vera Farmiga in a performance that is going to get her a LOT of work in the film biz. She's tremendous -- innocent, sexy, conflicted, and at every turn of the plot the person who leads Stahl's character deeper and deeper into his investigation of why on earth someone would *want* to be confined to a wheelchair.It's a great flick, by a first-time writer/director, someone who IMO is To Be Watched. Highly recommended.