Bindlestiffs (2012)

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

This movie first came to my attention when I watched "Losers Take All" and I was looking for other movies distributed by the same company. I eventually came across "Bindlestiffs," which is distributed by Kevin Smith's SModcast Pictures Presents label in association with Phase Four Films, the company that distributed "Losers Take All." After some research I found that "Bindlestiffs" premiered at The Slamdance Film Festival where it won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature; my interest peaked. "Bindlestiffs" follows three high school friends, who inspired by the novel The Catcher in the Rye, decide to travel to the city looking for sex and life experience after being expelled for drawing graffiti in the bathroom. Following in Holden Caulfiend's footsteps, John, Luke, and Andrew rent a motel room; that's where the fun begins."Bindlestiffs" is an amateur production made by students that were still in high school on a twenty thousand dollar budget, so it does fail in the acting and filming categories. To their credit, writers/ Editors Andrew Edison and Luke Loftin resourcefully film part of this movie in their high school using drama teachers as actors and students as extras. While entertaining, "Bindlestiffs" does not have any notable performances, only a second rate Michael Cera doppelganger and a pseudo Will Sasso security guard. Although it was shot in HD, the camera work left much to be desired following the characters as they move rather than shooting from one angle overlooking everything.The strength of this movie undoubtedly lies in the humor of the story and the dialogue of the characters. Andrew, who is most interested in The Catcher in the Rye, wears a red hunting cap and smokes cigarettes emulating Holden Caulfield. Throughout the movie he tries to pass parts of the novel off as events from his own life with hilarious results. Luke, who claims to know the most about sex is a virgin, and even when presented with a prostitute he only pretends to have sex. John (the second rate Michael Cera) is a religious Caucasian being raised by an Asian family. Although John is the least rebellious of the group, he ends up trying to have sex with his drama teacher and bedding an elderly homeless woman. Say what you will about this movie, but it certainly never gets boring."Bindlestiffs" is another movie that can be found on my list of movies to watch when drinking. The crude dialogue that can only come out of the mouths of high school boys and outrageous plot make this a movie perfect for drunken viewing. What the movie lacks in acting and filming it certainly makes up for in laughs and re-watch value. I have seen this movie a few times and I am not tired of watching, mainly because of the crude and outrageous humor. If you want a movie depicting high school rent a John Hughes film, if you want a raunchy comedy about high school made by highschoolers, "Bindlestiffs" might just be what the witch doctor ordered.

If you are thinking about watching this movie you should know: there is no script, every scene is just set up for the actors to ad lib their parts; there are no actors, just 3 young kids who apparently have their parents handy cam to play with; there are no production values, everyone just wears their own everyday clothes and the sets are just things that are lying around the area where the filming takes place; finally, the people making this film are not comedians, they are not interesting and they are not funny - some people are naturally funny, like Chelsea Handler, these people are not. Finally I should mention this movie has no plot; i.e. it just meanders around the idea of 3 boys wanting to have sex, which, by itself, is dull as dishwater. In summary, nothing to see here, nothing new, just move along and give this one a pass.

The actors casted for the 3 virgins are literally perfect. Their portrayal is so convincingly real and hysterical it gives you a feeling that the producers went out and found real nerds. The trio consists of Andrew Edwards, a book-loving, spastic weirdo, John Woo, an overly obedient dork adopted by traditionally strict Asian parents, and Luke Locktin, a lying geek that's in denial about being a nerd. The movie's plot centers on the triad's hysterical adventures in attempting to lose their virginity after being expelled from school for a display of graffiti created in revolt toward the banning of the "Catcher in the Rye." Although the film doesn't have many actors in it, two others should be highlighted - the security guard and John Woo's step-father. The security guard that gets the kids in trouble takes his job way too seriously and is so hilariously self- absorbed that he's guaranteed to get some laughs. John Woo's Asian step-father, on the other hand, provides the greatest 45 seconds ever recorded of Asian male acting, minus maybe only Bruce Lee or Jet Li; John Woo's dialogue with his father after being expelled is simply amazing. To see the rest of the review go to unbirthdayparty.wordpress.com/2012/09/27/bindlestiffs/.

Three high-school students after getting expelled decide to stage a weekend of debauchery that includes, but not limited to, homeless sex, losing virginity, and drinking. It's surprisingly awful in how mindblowingly bad it is.Well if this was Kevin Smith's Smodcast's first film to come out on the label, he should just pack it up now as this movie was 50 shades of awful. It felt like a rejected very long "Whitest Kids You Know" sketch, minus the humor, wit, and good acting of that aforementioned show of course. Don't believe the glowing reviews as they're likely from rabid KS fans, of which, truth be tod,, I used to be one of.