Friends & Lovers (1999)
Friends for ten years, a group of twenty-somethings head for the ski slopes as guests of Ian's father. (Ian and dad are estranged because dad worked too many hours when Ian was a lad.) Dad has something to say, but Ian won't listen. Meanwhile, David is gay and virginal; Ian's business partner, Keaton, is unhappy that his sister Jane is pregnant with no plans to tell the father; Lisa is everybody's pal and no one's lover; John, stuck in adolescence, is always on the make. He brings German-born stunner, Carla, and promptly loses her affection to Hans, a fast-talking ski instructor. David meets Manny: they have chess in common. Soon, surprises abound as relationships take new turns.
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I love this movie so much
Too many fans seem to be blown away
Crappy film
A Disappointing Continuation
This is not supposed to be Citizen Kane. It's a fluff piece. If you're locked up on a rainy day--or better yet, in a cabin during a winter snowstorm--with a couple of friends, some rum & a board game, it doesn't hurt to toss this on in the background, if for no other reason than to watch RDJ's fine derrière, easily the best part of this whole thing.Having said that, the one thing, if nothing else (and seriously, I'm not doing that much of a review here anyway...), that needs to be pointed out to the several people who have commented on RDJ's "bad" German accent--it's intentional. His accent is supposed to be cheesy like that because he's from New Jersey, not Germany. If that accent was supposed to be spoken by a genuine German character, bet your rear that Downey would have nailed it. It's a silly little bit of comedy that's not intended to be Shakespeare, and if you can just look at it that way, and try to enjoy the scenery, i.e. RDJ's man-tastic buns and the mountains, it's not a bad little flick, and it's mildly entertaining.
Okay, this movie isn't necessarily as god-awful as many of these reviews would suggest, but I have to agree it is a waste of time and talent. A group of reasonably engaging performers (Robert Downey, Jr., George Newbern, Stephen Baldwin and the amazingly sexy Leon) are on display here, but the movie suffers from sitcom-like superficiality and terribly amateurish direction (from George Haas, who may never work again after this mess.) Basically a sexed-up romantic comedy about a groups of friends vacationing at a ski lodge, "Friends and Lovers" has its moments of fun and frivolity. But the film is full of ludicrous "anatomy" jokes and pointless nudity, and the aforementioned direction by Haas is sloppy and laughably inept. The echoing effects in the ski slope scenes are preposterous, and the blocking of the performers is straight out of a high school play, with the actors facing the camera talking sideways to each other.Perhaps in the hands of a competent director, a good movie might have been made. This isn't it.
This movie was different, which is why a lot of people probably didn't like it. It seemed a lot more personal, or natural, than most 'movies'. Friends talking about friend things. It didn't seem over produced and over scripted. I doubt if it was ever meant to be a block-buster movie, just a good, different perspective on the subject of "Friends & Lovers". I really think that the Jane character was played and developed very well for a controversial character. Single, pregnant women aren't usually portrayed as normal people in movies. Jane was completely normal, fun and had a personality that was likable. Overall, a good, fun flick, just don't expect to find revealing life lessons within the plot.
It's hard to believe that actors/actresses of this caliber would lower themselves to be associated with a "film" such as this. It's essentially a flick for 35-year-old "Porky's" fans. Problem is, "Porky's" was funny when you were 16, and when the actors were playing teenagers, too-- It's NOT funny when the actors are playing 30-year-olds. Everyone involved in this movie should be punished and forced to spend a great deal of time hanging out with junior high school kids during an unsupervised weekend...that's what I was forced to do watching this movie.