Pretty Ugly People (2008)

Good movie but grossly overrated

Best movie ever!

Beautiful, moving film.

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

I just finished watching this as a rental (It also was available only on DVD, not even Blu-Ray, which is rare these days, even for a movie that went straight to disk, but then it WAS made in 2008).While I agree with a few of the negative comments made by some who didn't like the film, I also agree with all of the positive comments by those who did, as well. I thought it was a fair amount of fun, if not "laugh-out-loud" funny, and I've always enjoyed Missi Pyle.I think the fact that this was made BEFORE Melissa McCarthy became a big star and BEFORE Octavia won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for "The Help," certainly DIDN'T help make it a more marketable movie for theaters, as all I can find in the way of theater showings is a bunch of film festivals and ONE "limited release" in September 2009, and it doesn't even say WHERE, plus one brief showing in Palm Springs.William Sanderson, of course, has been around, like, FOREVER (my favorite role for him -- probably his most memorable -- was as the puppet maker in "Blade Runner"). But as a character actor, most folks don't know his name.I think this is good enough that were it released AGAIN during a slow period of the movie year (like the fall or winter), it could probably have a decent showing -- especially now that Melissa and Octavia are stars. Jeff

I also stopped watching about 10-20 minutes in. That's a very rare move for me. I consider myself from rural America, and found the "blacks in these parts" bit tiresome. Also, why was the local hillbilly (in Missoula, Montana, a city of at least 60,000... with hundreds of African-Africans living there as well as a university with a large international population) speaking with such an aw-shucks southern accent? Montana is not The South. It just gets under my skin when it seems as though all people outside of the Northeast or California are portrayed speaking in folksy, Appalachian drawls. Apologies for not sitting through it, but... I was a trifle insulted.

Pretty Ugly People is pretty unremarkable. The set-up and general tone of the movie would suggest a quirky independent romp. It may aim for this title, but it's mostly bland and patronizing. A big lass loses weight and arranges a trip for some friends. They all learn valuable lessons and "discover" themselves. These characters aren't horrible enough for any grand changes, nor or they nice enough to actually like. The protagonist is the biggest bitch of all, allowing her friends to believe she is dying. It's a horrible tactic that only the best writing could salvage a heart from. Unfortunately, such talented scripting is absent here.

I went to see this today at the Laemmle Sunset. I like Missy Pyle, but 15-20 minutes in and she had barely appeared. What showed up instead were an entirely implausible group of "friends" spouting banal, dreary quips about how they still happened to be connected--which I did not buy in the least.I was pleased that the cameo from the always-marvelous Allison Janney came within those first 15 minutes. It wasn't well-written, but she did the best she could.After a joke about black people being noticeable in the West because there are so few of them was made not once, but 3 times, I walked out. Life's too short for bad work like this nonsense.