Rating (1 to 10) : 6
Summary: Sol Goode is a narcissistic, unmotivated man with dreams of being an actor, the stereotypical LA inhabitant. Something’s gotta give and it does with his best friend Chloe.
In the first ten minutes of the movie, you learn what “P.O.D” is (post-orgasmic disgust). Sol (Balthazar Getty, who looks like Charlie Sheen) is the typical slacker male, unemployed, looking for a career that’s not too demanding (i.e. acting), and looking to have sex with women without having any meaningful relationships with them.
You follow Sol’s typical life as he hangs around with his friend Cooper (Danny Comden), one of those guys who is a little gifted in looks and thus thinks he’s God’s greatest gift to women, or Justin (Jamie Kennedy, Adam in “Boiler Room”), Sol’s roommate, someone who is a pushover and lacks any backbone to stick up to anyone, may it be his boss or his fiancée. But Sol’s best friend is Chloe (Katherine Towne), an attractive woman who seems to have relationship problems herself as she always ends up with losers with no future.
Sol, being the cool hipster, has gone out with a lot of women but his typical relationship with them is very superficial, limited to sex friends, with no commitments. He finally realizes that his idealized relationship is empty and discovers that his best friend Chloe is the love of his life and a relationship with her would be the best one. I’m sure that angle hasn’t been tried in a movie before (sic).
What differentiates this movie from the others that have the same over-used plot formula is the script makes good use of the varied supporting cast to give it a witty humor. You have actresses like Tori Spelling, Natasha Gregson Wagner, and China Chow playing zany parts. Jared Leto has a cameo as a rock-star wannabe loser who’s attracted to Chloe (no surprise); he wants to be a cross between the Backstreet Boyz and Fred Durst of Limp Bizkit. Jason Bateman , Cindy Margolis, Carmen Electra, and Glenn Shadix (the effeminate advisor in “Demolition Man”) also have minor roles. Ironically, the best performance is by Danny Comden (who is also the writer and director). He plays the obnoxious and flamboyant Cooper as the extreme caricature, as a man who would take longer to get ready than his girlfriend, a man who can’t stop by a reflecting window without looking at himself, someone who is obsessed with his hair.
The ending could have been better. The movie had its romantic moment but the pacing of the movie didn’t quite blend with the chemistry between Sol and Chloe. We’re left wondering why Sol didn’t fall in love with Chloe in the first place when it’s obvious she’s the most attractive woman in Sol’s social circles. And it seems that Sol and Chloe falling in love is preordained, as if being friends with the opposite sex makes that inevitable.
But this is still a small-budget gem worth checking out.
Irate Patron: “Excuse me. Before you disappear for another ten minutes, can I just get something to drink?”
Chloe: “Sure. What can I get you?”
Irate Patron: “An LA Skylight”
Chloe: “What’s that?”
Irate Patron: “Half ice tea, half lemonade, the ice tea represents the smog, the lemonade is for the sun.”
Chloe: “I think that’s called an Arnold Palmer”
Irate Patron: “Whatever. I don’t play tennis.”
Cooper (looking at his reflection in a window): “God damn dude, my salad’s kinda bangy right now dude.”
Cooper: “I’ve got such a bang-over. I fucked the hottest chick on the planet last night.”
Chloe: “Jesus Christ. Happy, I’m sorry. You know, these guys, they really don’t get any so when they do, they don’t kiss and tell, they kiss and yell.”
Cooper: “Shit, I get more ass than a toilet seat at the Lillith Fair.”