Peep World (2011)

So much average

The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

Henry Meyerwitz has four grown children: Jack, the architect; Joel, the lawyer who took 8 times to pass the bar exam; Cheri, the failed artist/actress; Nathan, the writer, who is seven years younger than Cheri. Henry is distant and imperious. Jack is tasked each year with paying for an expensive dinner in honor of Henry's birthday.By Henry's seventieth birthday, family relations have gone from being tense and dysfunctional to harsh and confrontational. The main reason for this change is the wide success of Nathan's book Peep World, which is more than a bit too biographical for the comfort of Cheri, Joel, and Jack. To make things worse, Jack's business and revenue have shrunk, Joel's legal career is at a snail's pace, and Cheri's career is going nowhere. The topper is that Henry has a new girl friend Amy, who is the actress that plays Cheri in the film of Nathan's book.In the hours leading up to the seventieth birthday dinner, the slow burns of the principal characters are exposed. At the dinner, they burst out, capped by Henry's speech returning all their fire.Will the family gain some cohesion out of all this? -----Scores-----Cinematography: 8/10 Well shot for the most part; on Netflix it seemed to have some intervals of focus that was too soft.Sound: 7/10 No particular problems, but I thought the sound could have been more of an asset to the film than it was.Acting: 8/10 The large cast included several skilled actors doing fine work.Screenplay: 5/10 The threads came together well at the end, but I thought the film would have been better without a narrator. Just to be clear, most of the laughs I got out of the film were from Lewis Black's expert delivery--as the narrator. The film was billed as a comedy; why should most of the humor come from the narrator's performance?

"Peep World" is a peek into a world of a dysfunctional family. It's a dysfunctional family comedy and it's funny. Henry had four children, even though he really shouldn't have had any, and they all pretty much hate each other and him. This movie is set on one particular day: Henry's birthday, and right after the youngest sibling, Nathan (Ben Schwartz), wrote a best-selling book revealing the family's secrets.I consider it better than most dysfunctional family dramedies because this isn't a drama-comedy, it's pure comedy and it is hilarious. There is a moment of self-realization for most of the characters near the end that comes awfully close to melodrama that probably would have been better left on the cutting-room floor, but it doesn't really affect the many moments of brilliant, cutting humour.Another reviewer had mentioned that the one thing he liked about the movie is that the characters seemed like real people. Oddly enough, one of the many things that I liked about the movie is that the characters were nothing like real people. They are all rich, privileged, fundamentally screwed-up fools who are completely clueless and selfish. At no point do I even have to consider comparing myself to them. When Nathan declares that his book requires America to hold up a mirror — that is a joke for the audience to get.It has an all-star cast who, for the most part, are acting outside of their standard roles. Rainn Wilson is not playing the dweeby loser he usually does, but he is trying to get his life together again after going to rehab three times. Don't expect Sarah Silverman to break out into her stand-up routine, she's busy fretting over her father's new, young girlfriend. Michael C. Hall is basically playing the straight-man, but every character is messed up in some way. Judy Greer plays the one serious role in the movie and that is a very welcomed change for her. Kate Mara stood out for me as she held her own against the star (Schwartz) and mastered the subtle reactions to his many comedic and chauvinistic mishaps.Lewis Black narrates all the characters and their ridiculous episodes, and I can't help but laugh at everything he says. Mostly because all the jokes in "Peep World" are funny; they work on multiple levels, and usually on one of those levels, they're true.

PEEP WORLD – TRASH IT ( D ) Peep world has some of the most funniest and critically acclaimed actors in it. So, for my or everyone surprise it was just shocking to see such a boring and inconsistent movie. Where is story is weak and characters are more weakest than the story it self. This movie stands alone on very thin script. The direction and editing of the movie is awful. All I can sat that it's a Waste of such a talented cast Michael C. Hall, Rainn Wilson, Ben Schwartz, Kate Mara, Alicia Witt, Octavia Spencer, Taraji P. Henson, Stephen Tobolowsky, and Sarah Silverman. It's hard to imagine how someone can come up with such a terrible screenplay and characterization. It's dreadful and waste of Time and Mind!

I watched this movie for a lot of reasons. I really like Sarah Silverman and Michael C. Hall, plus I was looking for a comedy that might offer a little something different. I guess on both fronts I got what I was expecting, but it still felt like a hollow victory.There's nothing really bad about this movie. The acting is done well and the pace is kept pretty good, but it always feels like something is missing and I still can't figure out what it would be. It seems to be one of the many comedies that tries to derive humor from awkward situations and subtle quirks in common situations. Though it's just a personal preference, that has always kind of bothered me. And the storyline of the horrendously dysfunctional family also feels a bit tired to be, especially as it's been done to much better effect.But the film isn't without it's charms. They're just a little hard to notice. Honestly, I thought this movie delivered more on the drama aspects than the comedy and perhaps that's how it was supposed to play. But hey...at least it wasn't terrible. That's really about all the endorsement I'm willing to give it.