Fun (1994)

This is How Movies Should Be Made

Good start, but then it gets ruined

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Story revolves around two girls who after meeting each other and becoming BFF's in one day, agree that having fun is the best and most important part of life. So, they hit up arcades, act silly and kill an old lady. Huh? Yep. Well, they get caught and the story focuses on them dealing with their current confinement.The film is basically a two person character study. I keep on seeing reviewers rave about the acting. Sure it's okay I suppose, but it's pretty clear these girls were given the green light to just go nuts. Not incredibly impressive if you ask me. Don't get me wrong, they did a fine job, but nothing crazy good. The movie could only succeed if these two delivered quality acting jobs...and with the green light, they were given that opportunity, which they took advantage of, and pulled it off.The flick though, isn't that entertaining. Even though the girls do a fine job acting, the characters aren't very interesting, and the scenes kinda boring. Also the writing is very up and down. Scenes like when they were discussing their sexual past was right on, but scenes when talking with the counselors, were almost boring. Fun plays out in a back in forth type way with the "here and now" and flashbacks. Weird thing about that though, the flashbacks are in color and the scenes of them in their current situation is in black in white. I thought that was a nice touch.Fun managed to succeed in being a moderately realistic take on teenage nihilism. It's a pretty unknown flick that should get more talk, because most of the people who have seen it enjoyed it. If you enjoy serious drama or films about troubled youth, then you should definitely check it out.

I could not get into this film, which bothered me as the two young actresses playing the leads were extraordinarily good. However, the whole flashback structure required the story to be told to two supporting actors in 'current' time, neither of whom seem like they have any acting chops whatsoever. "Jane" and "John" are such caricatures that any scene involving them feels incredibly false. The flashback sequences are excellent -- except for the victim, who is also a terrible actress -- and those are compelling enough to make the film worth a look. I gave it a 5. Shame on either the producer or the director for the casting decisions involved. Alicia Witt is especially good in this.If you want to see the same theme dramatized much more effectively, see "Heavenly Creatures".

I thought this was an excellent film and I was surprised to find out how little-known it is. What's best about this movie is that it can be extremely disturbing and yet very believable at the same time. It shows what two minds are capable of when they become obsessed with each other. I would also have to say that there was nothing sexual about the girls relationship (as hinted at in the plot keywords). They just had an intense understanding of each other which allowed them to get dangerously close, but not sexual. Excellent acting, intense drama, I gave it an 8/10.

I saw this film at about 2am over a year ago on Channel 4 in the UK. Whilst very disturbing and depressing, the direction and concepts behind the film are nothing less than amazing; making the viewing very compelling indeed. The acting is incredibly intense, making the subject matter all the more uncomfortable - it came as no shock to read in the end-credits details of consultant psychologists on the film. I'd never heard of the film until I accidentally tuned into it - the reviews that accompanied it in various magazines rated it as 1 and 2 stars (out of 5) respectively - a sorry comment on the closed-mindedness and inability to face the more uncomfortable aspects of reality that can be found in some professional reviewers. This is an amazing film - if you are feeling relatively stable, go and see it as soon as possible.