Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Janae Milner Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

nolarose Watched this to see my hometown on film and as an emerging Franco fan. I was expecting to hate it based on reviews and just from being a New Orleanian. But I loved it. I guess whether you like a film or not really boils down to taste.The French quarter and City Park (or was it Audubon?) looked realistic and yet surreally beautiful. I believe Cage still has a home in the Garden District not far from where I used to live so I think he must still love the city. One work lunch as I stood at a corner downtown waiting to cross a busy intersection I saw him being chauffeured past in a non-descript car, window down, arm hanging out (maybe towards a movie shoot?) It was in front of the building I used to work in...the pink highrise you see in the background behind Sonny in the opening shot...I think it fall 1989 or early 1990 so it must have been "Wild at Heart" they were filming. In fact our eyes locked for a while and he turned his head to keep the stare well across the intersection and down the street, which kind of unsettled me. I recognized him immediately though I hadn't heard anything about the movie.Back to what was realistic...the accents in this film were not...but I was surprised not to have that bother me in the least as it did in the movie The Big Easy with Dennis Quaid and Ellen Barkin. I think that is because this movie was more of an art film and you expected a degree of fantasy in it...sort of like you'd find in Raising Arizona or the Big Lebowski. Someone else mentioned Coen brothers and I agree; there was a bit of that in this film. Some didn't like this interplay of drama and quirkiness; I do. It's a Nicholas Cage (and to a different degree, James Franco) trademark.Another surprise: Brenda Vaccaro as Meg. Though her role is brief, her chops as an actress really stood out. Wow! I've never noticed her before; will definitely check her other movies out. All of the acting in the film was great excepting perhaps a local or two. I could immediately spot the locals from their accents and demeanors and there were only a few, one of them very good. Harry Dean Stanton great, as usual. Brenda Blethyn was great in this stylized Blanche DuBois-type role, though her attempt at New Orleans old-timer pronunciations like "goyl" for "girl" were awful as was her southern accent. But for me that didn't take away from her wonderful acting a bit.First time seeing Mena Suvari...I don't know how she usually acts but thought she nailed her role as "pretty baby". I loved her and wanted to hug her.Franco...what can I say? My avocation of trying to figure out what and how this guy ticks is getting to be ridiculous. To date (2010) Francophilia seems to be a meme that is just ready to explode in America...possibly worldwide. This guy clearly touches something in people everywhere. I *so* recognized that person who emerged in his scene in the Texas bathroom. Really. I have never seen anyone tap into that particular space and so completely nail it in film before, but I recognized it very well.Cage allowed Sonny to care for his clients and want to please them, though he clearly didn't enjoy every aspect of his work. Watch him with Meg; then police lady; then mansion lady -- he clearly wants to please, and he does.Pleasantly surprised, and somewhat amazed with what I saw in this film. But that's just me...

imdbyes I love this movie. It shows how hard it is to change what you know and feel comfortable in due to the fact that you didn't have a proper upbringing. It is painful, you see Sonny and the other character played by Mena Suvari trying desperately to change but finding it so hard to do so. I love the scene where Sonny goes out with the "normal" kids and wants to be like them and tries to be like them, he's so close yet so far. That was heartbreaking, how that scene ends. The other heartbreaking scene was the one with Mena suvari and Sonny in the rain. They are two good people who just don't know how to survive in any other way. They are like children in adult bodies. I loved it.

sweetness4150 i thought that Sonny was a very good movie. I wasn't expecting much whenever I rented the movie- i only rented it because i love James Franco. but the movie really did surprise and impress me.I loved James Franco in this. His acting was very good. I felt his pain, especially when I looked in his eyes. His eyes tell it all. The rest of the acting was also very good. Mena Suvari did an excellent job as well.I liked the story line behind it all and it was put together very well. I can imagine trying to change your life like he did, but failing. I know how hard it is to be rejected or put down, and in this movie, Sonny deals with it well for the most part i suppose. This is a movie that i would definitely recommend seeing, it has great actors, a good story line, and who can say no to seeing James almost naked body? :)

desperateliving I guess it's hard to address serious issues when you're dealing with a plot about a flamboyant southern belle who raises her son to be a natural-born-whore, because this movie is considered to be a failure even though it really isn't. It's neither the ready-made slice-of-life that Sundance specializes in, nor is it an innovative film like "Pi," so casual independent fans have little reason to like this (they probably dislike Paul Morrissey, too). So there's already a few misconceptions about the film, but add to that that it's an actor's film: what else are we supposed to expect from Nicolas Cage? The movie is a mix of piano music and prostitution, and it's just like Cage's acting -- hyper-real and over-the-top, classy and trashy at once.The movie is partially a series of differing acting styles -- Blethyn's comic exaggeration, Franco's sleepy mysteriousness, Stanton's quiet control, Cage's funhouse tricks. But I think Cage deserves a certain amount of credit -- he doesn't scuzzify the material or romanticize it; he creates some interesting scenes (and handles most of the more potentially offensive ones with as close to grace as possible); he indulges all of his actors. And there is some real pain in the story, about not being able to switch jobs, and how vagabonds have nothing to show for their life. There are times when this goes where few films do in terms of honesty, yet the script does have increasing problems as it goes along. A scene like the one where Cage makes his appearance, seen through Sonny's drunken haze, works only because of the oddness of it; it feels stolen from other films because it's supposed to be there for the type of movie this is. But the film is at its best when it resists any "type." 8/10