Drawing Flies (1996)

Simply A Masterpiece

Sadly Over-hyped

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

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

I have seen this movie. It has a great plot and is very funny. A lot of people I know liked it as well. In my opinion the best View Askew movie ever. I loved all of them except for Mall Rats and Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Jason Lee's best movie by far. I also thought it had a great soundtrack. At the end of the movie you think to yourself well it couldn't happen any other way but that way. Anyway, you should see this movie and ignore any anti post about it just watch it and make your own decision. Once again I stress this just watch it. I give it a big yesss for its artistic structure. You love it I love it and I love cheese! People love cheese you know!

Drawing Flies was made on a low budget. A REALLY low budget. So considering that, its a decent effort. However, it is suppose to be a comedy and you really wont laugh many times during its runtime, be it because of the soundtrack, which is quite hard to hear in some scenes, or the patchy script that wants to be a Kevin Smith movie but doesn't really cut it, or some of the actors poor delivery. It also doesn't help that the film occasionally tries to be funny in a surreal way but really lacks the kind of intelligence and wit to pull off some of the more obscure scenes.There are only 2 real reasons to view this movie. One is if you're a view askew fan and want to see another movie featuring a lot of players from Smith's directorial projects are like when he's not behind the camera, as many of them are present here. The other is Jason Lee. Lee delivers in this movie, just like he always does. delivering his dialogue to perfection, even if I do feel that the way he chose to play his character wasn't quite the right decision because you sometimes find it hard to like him when it seems like you should. He is still the most enjoyable aspect here by far.There's actually a scene towards the end of the film's pretty brief 70 odd minute life span where one character reads another's palm. We are told that the straighter a certain line on your hand is, the easier it is to achieve a great career. We can definitely assume then that Lee has a very wonky line on his palm, as it seems whenever he's in a good film he's usually underused or, like in Drawing Flies, he's stuck as the only truly great thing amidst a whole lot of average-ness.

I had long been looking forward to finally finding the "lost View Askew" film, "Drawing Flies," only to realize what a total waste of my time it was to watch it. I am a fan of Kevin Smith's films, especially "Mallrats," and it seemed encouraging that so much of its cast was in this film, although I'm scratching my head at what I just saw.I think it was meant to be a comedy, but there was no obvious humor (or subtle, for that matter). I would imagine most viewers would be at least as indifferent to the plot and characters as I was-- and I was inclined to like the film, having been searching for so long. The acting, directing, and writing were all really lousy, although the same actors did a good job in "Mallrats," leading me to believe that the blame is more squarely in the lap of the filmmakers. Some of the intellectual pontification present in Smith's films can be heard here as well, but it just seems laboured and extraneous. My last complaint (although if I had the time I could continue indefinitely) was that although we were often reminded that it was set in British Columbia, there was only one character that sounded remotely Canadian-- in fact, Jason Mewes sounded as New Jersey-esque as always, down to the "youse."My overall rating: not even for View Askew die-hards. Kevin Smith and Scott Mosier introduce the DVD, which seems like a nice touch, until they ramble on long enough without really saying anything at all (they may have been were drunk or high). Smith says what a fine film this is but I guess you have to listen to the commentary to see why he feels this way because he doesn't elaborate well in the introduction. I don't think I can put myself through another watching to hear the commentary. I'll give it a generous three out of ten.

I rented Drawing Flies because I have always been a View Askew fan. I LOVE IT!!!! The writing and the acting are excellent. There are a few things I don't like. The camera handling, it isn't always center and it keeps moving around, but it is a indie film. That it's black and white, It would of been better if it was in color, but again it is a indie film. Then, it is only a hour and 16 min. If it was longer it would better but maybe a little boring. And the name Drawing Flies isn't really a big thing of the movie. But all good movies has faults. I would recommend it for all View Askew fans.4 1/2 out of 5 stars!