BootDigest Such a frustrating disappointment

Stometer Save your money for something good and enjoyable

Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Calum Hutton It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Malcolm Parker A reflection on something - I think - with drugs, sex and stereotypical wannabes all enmeshed in a sort of nihilistic parallel world that means whatever their actions, nobody in the "real world" sees through them. The problem with such obtuse symbolism is that it has to lack focus to suggest representation, but in lacking focus, needs to say something significant to make people think its worth stating. This film says nothing significant about people who don't matter. Subsequently (aside from a few obviously more enlightened reviewers) who cares about what happens to them. I watched, waiting for enlightenment but aimlessly plodding direction and bland cinematography left an occasionally interesting dialogue and tireless actors flailing around, probably hoping something good might come in the editing. Unfortunately it didn't.

fedor8 Or "Verbal Gymnastics Among The Bored And Decadent". I have rarely, or perhaps even never, seen a movie with such extreme verbal acrobatics and with such an incredible emphasis on complex semantic games and duels; almost makes Stillman's movies sound like Bud Spencer's films, by comparison. Whoever wrote this thing evidently put a lot of effort into the sometimes mind-boggling dialog. There isn't much in the way of a plot, but the kind of talking, arguing, and philosophizing that goes on here is rather unusual. And the good part is that it's very well-written. Occasionally the sentences or arguments get so bogged down into semantic mud that it becomes necessary to use the rewind button, because it's difficult to concentrate that hard for two entire hours. I think that Wright spoke for both the viewers and the cast members when she at one point hollered "I can't stand this semantic insanity any more!".Practically everyone engages in the verbal entanglements, but it is Penn's character who usually outdoes everyone in this respect, and it is usually him who initiates them, right after snorting the n-th line of cocaine, or after having taken a couple of deep inhalings of hash - and those things he does throughout the whole movie (and this goes to a lesser extent for Spacey and Schandling, too). The "semantic insanity" sometimes goes so far that the characters replace ends of sentences with "blablablabla" - quite literally. The dialog is sometimes fascinating, often funny or amusing, and at times so insanely intricate that the characters themselves have trouble following what the other person exactly meant to say.This last thing, of course, leads to many amusing moments. The humorous moments themselves stem primarily from Penn's drug-induced, hallucinatory ramblings and Spacey's wonderful sarcasm and wit. In fact, the very beginning of the movie sets the tone for the way those two will interact throughout most of the picture (their relationship being important but also just one of a half-dozen): Penn is falling deeper and deeper into thickets of "semantic insanity" - bitching about Spacey having had a fling with Wright - while Spacey listens to him, and responds to Penn's verbal overkill by making wry remarks. In the two hours of the movie Penn is almost always whacked-out on drugs, and the more drugged he is, the more he searches for answers to the "meaning of life" (towards the end of the movie), the more he moans, bitches, and whines, and the more he practices his bored-out-of-my-mind philosophizing about relationships and life. In moments when he is extremely out of it - like when alone with Meg Ryan, and just after Palmintierri's funeral - he goes on such an emotional rampage, and his voice assumes such a high, crackly pitch that he sounds exactly like Bill Murray in moments when he goes a little crazy. It's by far the best Penn I've seen so far; he has rarely been good, but in this movie he is rather good, I have to admit. Spacey, of course, is great as ever, and Palmintierri gets a short while to get used to. The cast is, generally speaking, quite a colourful and mixed bag.There are a number of funny or amusing moments, so I'll just mention a couple of those that I still remember... There is the scene when Penn mentions the aborigines, and says some nonsense about them having (had) their own problems, such as "tigers waiting in trees", and "dogs in the bushes" (or something like that). Very funny. Then there is a funny, longer scene in which Spacey tries to explain to Penn that there is no hidden message in Palmintierri's (rather moronic) suicide note, while Penn insists that they analyze the letter for hidden meanings and anagrams(!) in order to find the real truth about his pal's death. Especially funny is the brief scene when Spacey reads the letter aloud, mock-analyzing it word by word.

hengir There are lots of things to like about this. The constant stream of verbiage is great, a continuous barrage of words that almost make you want to run for cover. Like the people in the film, very entertaining for a couple of hours but you wouldn't want to spend your life with them. The texture of the film is dream like, as if the whole world was drugged up and though the camera doesn't move much from the main characters' house it all feels disjointed and not quite real.Then there is the acting. Sean Penn is the stand out. You can enter into his confusion, his needs, his despair and his fractured humanity. Kevin Spacey's role's comparative normality is well done too. He is a charming surface with a vacuum underneath. Chazz Palminteri is also great, never putting a rational thought together, scary and vulnerable at the same time.It is an actor's piece and all of them give a good account of themselves. Having seen the film one wouldn't mind seeing it on stage. It seems to need a live audience. As for what 'Hurly Burly' is really "about", well it was beyond me.

whpratt1 After viewing this picture, I became a big fan of Sean Penn,(Eddie),"The Interpreter",'05, who showed his great acting abilities in playing a very hard role to portray on the screen. Meg Ryan,(Bonnie),"In The Cut",'03, played the role of a dippy blonde who would do anything for Eddie and I mean anything. Robin Wright Penn,(Darlene),"Nine Lives",'05 had the hots for Eddie and Eddie had a ball making love to her quite often during the film. Well, after all, they are husband and wife. Garry Shandling,(Artie),"Town & Country",'01 make a few brief appearances and tried to add some humor to his role, which was so so. This is a very strange story, but is really down to earth and has a cast of great actors who did a fantastic job of presenting way out people all mixed up and high on DRUGS!