Full of It (2007) Online

Let's start off with the fact that I am not a movie-critic or whatsoever. However, I do watch a lot, I mean a LOT of movies in every genre there is. The one thing I have learned is that you know beforehand what you can expect from a movie to a certain extend. You don't know whether it will be good or bad exactly, but you do know whether it is "Oscar" material or not. Well, I never for a moment suspected this film to be anything more than a weak copy of American Pie 1 through 15 or any other teen-comedy out there. And here comes the surprise: it was more... Sometimes you just don't want forced plot-twists, mysterious characters or surrealistic worlds, but just sheer entertainment in a movie.

The movie starts off with an over-the-top Brady Bunch act-a-like family (only one kid though, but he can replace all the Brady kids in one). Of course the kid feels embarrassed for his family, from the moment he notices that this "being nice" and "love your parents in a over-the-top manner" is not really falling into the category "cool" at his new school. He realizes that with a "little" lie here and there, he can make his life a lot more interesting and maybe even belong to the cool kids eventually. I know for sure that nearly everyone exaggerated or maybe even lied in school, making there lives more colored and exciting than they really were. People want to belong, that's human nature. Imagine if everything you have exaggerated about, would come true... Well that is exactly what this movie is about and this is, to me, what makes this movie enjoyable.

There are a lot of jokes in this movie, and of course there are ones that are just not funny and ones that you can see coming from a mile away. But what do you expect from this type of film? All in all there are enough humorous moments in this movie, and even the moralistic ending of this movie (also no surprise) could not spoil the fun I had watching "Full of it". So, if you are looking for a fun film with some good laughs which you don't have to think about too much, watch this movie; it's entertaining. And that, to me, is still the most important...

I don't know why this movie is rated so low by so many. It's funny and entertaining. The acting was top notch, casting was spot on and it was a funny story. I'm adding it to my list of comedy favorites so I can go back and watch it again in a couple of years.

Here's a list of some of my other favorite comedy gems: Galaxy Quest, Idiocracy, Knight and Day, Office Space, Remo Williams: the Adventure Begins, Groundhog Day, 17 Again, Mr. Destiny, Undercover Brother, Bowfinger, Dodgeball, The Best of Times, Last Action Hero, Back to School, Romancing the Stone, Better Off Dead, Hot Tub Time Machine, Uncle Buck, Tommy Boy, Black Sheep, Crazy People, Nurse Betty and Liar Liar.

I watched this movie because I didn't have anything else to do and I was looking for a high school comedy to watch. I can say that I didn't laugh even once during the entire movie, but I did find it kind of fun to watch, what with Carmen Electra and all. I can just say that if my lies all came true, I'd be in heaven, so I can't understand why this kid realized that it wasn't good :S maybe a moral life lesson I guess, and I guess it is true, but I wanna experience it for myself, after meeting and kissing Carmen Electra of course. Overall, a enjoyable movie to just kick back and relax. Ryan Pinkston looks like a loser throughout the entire movie, but I guess that's what the movie is aiming for so that's okay. They could have picked a better girl to be the hottest girl in the school, and then it would've been more fun to watch :)

Sam Leonard is a 17 year-old pipsqueak who looks more like an incoming freshman than an outgoing senior. Newly arrived at Bridgeport High, Sam suffers the slings and arrows of abuse and ridicule on a daily basis - until, that is, he figures out that the way to get the "cool" kids to like him is to concoct elaborate fabrications about virtually every aspect of his really quite humdrum life. The problem is that one day all the lies he has been telling mysteriously start coming true - with decidedly disastrous results for Sam and all those around him. In true parabolic fashion, Sam is finally forced to concede that honesty may in fact be the best policy when it comes to winning friends, influencing people and getting what one really wants out of life.

"Full of It" is a bush-league morality tale that uses magical realism to make its point. Yet, while youngsters may be amused by some of the wish-fulfillment aspects of the plot and even edified by the little lessons about life that Sam learns along the way, concerned parents should note that a certain overall sleaziness in the tone may make this less than ideal viewing for the average pre-teen. Adults, on the other hand - whether sleazy or not - will be pretty much unengaged by the whole thing. Though, if the truth be told, the movie does have a few genuinely clever moments scattered amidst all the distasteful and dull ones, as well as a denouement that really is pretty darn funny.

As Annie, the sole member of the student body who befriends Sam, Kate Mara (memorable as Heath Ledger's daughter in "Brokeback Mountain") brings such a transcendent warmth and depth to her character that she seems to be performing in a whole other movie entirely (one can almost sense the actress's impatience at bursting the bonds of the material so she can move onto better things). Ryan Pinkston is somewhat less impressive as the benighted Sam, though he does have a certain boyish charm that comes across well on screen.

=====Small spoilers=====

I guess perhaps one reason people don't like the movie is because the lead is not handsome, strong or even likable. I myself like it when the lead stars are handsome or beautiful, but I have to make an exception here, though the good girl is very pretty in a different way.

This movie does not need the old "pretty girl in glasses and hair pinned back" who becomes a princess just by removing the glasses, unpinning the hair and removing the frumpy clothes and putting on a sexy dress cliché. The lead is a guy, but I hope you know what I mean as the guy here, even transformed (that is and keep the same actor) could never be made to look the part of a popular jock.

And the lead is not as wretched as the guy in the "New Guy" at least, even though that was part of the comedy in that movie.

The movie is fun. Maybe not funny, but fun in a way that you feel when a practical joke you and others put together is about to be sprung. I guess it deteriorates as it as it goes on, but I enjoyed the beginning and middle enough to watch it through. The plot gist or device may have done better in a series and dream sequences I must bring out.

BIG SPOILER***************************************** I guess perhaps another reason people don't like the movie is because he becomes a real "loser" (I think winner) in the embarrassing sports sequence near the end of the movie. BIG SPOILER*****************************************

Anyway, I give it a 7, but with a "one-time" watch only limitation.