Alicia
I love this movie so much
Mjeteconer
Just perfect...
Phonearl
Good start, but then it gets ruined
Hellmant
'FREE SAMPLES': Two Stars (Out of Five)Pointless and annoying indie comedy film about a law student dropout who goes back home to Los Angeles to 'find herself' and runs her friend's ice cream truck for a day. The film was written by first time feature film writer Jim Beggarly and directed by first time feature film director Jay Gammill. It stars Jess Weixler and features cameos by Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter, Matt Walsh, Whitney Able, Halley Feiffer and Tippi Hedren. The supporting cast is the film's one saving grace but I found Weixler's character (which is in every scene of the movie) to be highly annoying and depressing.Weixler plays Jillian, a Stanford law-school dropout who moves back home to Los Angeles to figure out what she wants in life. The film takes place all in one 24-hour period and begins with Jillian getting wasted at a bar one evening (while hanging out with her friends). She's been on a six-month break from her boyfriend and meets a young man, she calls Tex (Eisenberg), who asks her out on a date (but forgets him when she's sober). The next morning she agrees to fill in for her friend Nancy (Feiffer) at her job, running an ice cream truck for the day, so Nancy can go to a family drug intervention for her brother. Jillian spends the day dealing with crazy customers and old friends as she argues with everyone and feels sorry for herself. I like character driven movies (where nothing really eventful happens) but I have to care about the characters in some way. Jillian here is way too negative and antagonistic (to everyone she meets). While filling in for her friend she probably ruined her business and scared away all the customers! Why should I care what happens to her? In the end she of course comes to some kind of a revelation and seems like she might change but it isn't very convincing and seems tacked on. Her overwhelming cynicism makes the whole movie seem cynical but most of all it's just annoying. I couldn't stand the main character. Eisenberg, Ritter and a few others are likable in the film but their parts are way too brief and underdeveloped. Most of all the movie felt like a film for trolls (all about how trolls live and torment others). I don't want to see a movie like that.Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6JDL6l-UAwQ
dferguso44
Pretty much, this film is about the wonderful, quirky Jess Weixler. When she acts opposite Tippi Hedren you see the full array of her facial expressions. The story doesn't move very fast, nor is there much of one, but if you like films like "Juno" then you should like this, although it's not in the same class as the aforementioned.The somewhat vacuous storyline and the rather dull setting, IE a bashed up ice cream van in a sub-urban parking lot are non-the-less brightened up by the excellent Jesse Weixler.If you like your movies full of action and special effects then forget this one.
joeymaloney12
was a total and complete sucker for this film.If I were to write and direct a movie about gangsters or crime, this would be it. I wouldn't change one damn thing. Not a thing. Everything in this film was, to my eye, perfect - casting, the camera-work, the excellent dialogue ("It's been emotional.")Now I don't have much to compare this to, and I've heard some criticism that it basically draws quite heavily from older British crime dramas. I've got a bunch of these on my queue to rent, but I doubt you could make a crime film better than this.This film oozes with style, class, dark humor, plot twists and turns, and doesn't drag one bit. The casting and characterization is perfect, and Ritchie isn't afraid to move the cameras around; no pretense is really made here at "realism" - Jay Gammill doesn't mask the fact that it's a film and he runs with it.I really don't think of myself as easily impressed, and I have seen a hell of a lot of films in my time, but this one instantly made my Top 10 after only a single viewing. Yes, I'm raving about it, and while it may not be "spiritually enriching" or contain any deep sociological content (which I actually do look for in films), somehow it still scores as one hell of a film; memorable and entertaining, and stands up well to multiple viewings.I am a bit dismayed to see some of the marketing of this film comparing it to other things like Juno. It really does it a disservice because this film really is its own phenomenon and stands on its own two feet; if anything it is similar to Juno films only because it actually has its own bold style.
ethanstraffin
Based in part on a worryingly low IMDb rating, I went into "Free Samples" with some hesitance, but to my surprise it ended up as the highlight of the Palo Alto International Film Festival for me in terms of sheer entertainment value. It reminded me a great deal of a Sundance favorite from a few years back, "Smiley Face" with Anna Faris, due both to its snarky but ultimately sweet sense of humor and the wonderfully expressive and funny things that lead actress Jess Weixler is able to so with her face and her delivery. It's the kind of quirky -- I think one may in fact be required by law to use that word when reviewing films like this -- comedy about not all that much that understandably will rub some viewers the wrong way, but it's executed with so much giddy confidence (especially for a first feature) that it had me from the first minute and held onto me for all of the rest. Director Jay Gammill mentioned at the Q&A that he's currently working on a second feature with the same screenwriter. I'm looking forward to it.
