Pocket Listing (2016)

Load of rubbish!!

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

A genre cocktail, mixing Scorsese-light material excess with reversal of fortune drama and high stakes, sexy con man noir. But it works... largely in part to solid performances from Jurdi as an amiable anti-hero, Clark as an irresistible femme fetale straight out of a 1950's Orson Welles crime yarn, and Lowe in a hipster wig and a welcome return to the kind of raspy voiced, cool as ice villains he perfected in such comedies as "Tommy Boy" and "Wayne's World." Wish Burt had more of a presence here though, but just happy to see him in something legit. The film also feels a bit out of the '90's, even late '80's style of action comedy which is a bit over the top but never the less welcome entertainment.

This is a fun and relatively clever little film, far from perfect and a bit slow to get going but generally enjoyable overall. What's interesting about it is that it is set in the backdrop of the American real estate crises but somehow it doesn't dwell on the drama of that dilemma. Rather, it spins an energetic crime caper about a Malibu villa and all the players that are trying to sell it for their own very shady reasons. As long as the film stays with this threadline, it works. When it tries to become a bit message oriented with a subplot about a Downtown tenement that's tied to the sale of the house and to the main real estate agent, it loses momentum and becomes less zesty. Fortunately, it maintains enough energy to keep the audience engaged and one most give credit to the younger actors in the film for really carrying it nicely. Lowe and Reynolds have smaller parts but it's really the fresh faced ingenues that make this film pop. Overall, "Pocket Listing" is certainly ambitious, somewhat flawed but undeniably compelling.

I am a sucker for movies set in the city of Angels. From "Heat" to "Collateral" to "The Player" to "Nightcrawler," I just find that L.A. is such a cinematic city, no pun intended. Something about its landscape, climate, and sprawling geography make it an outstanding backdrop for all kinds of fascinating stories.Now, we can welcome "Pocket Listing" to the list of awesome movies which have put the great town of L.A. to use. In fact, not only does the film put its setting to use, it practically turns it into one of the main characters of the plot. Set in the high stakes world of competitive real estate around the economic crash, "Listing" examines one agent's ascent and descent from the hills of Hollywood to the slums of Downtown. The film uses the landscape not only as pretty scenery but also to depict the varying degrees of distinction between those fortunate enough to have survived and thrived during the recession to those who weren't so lucky and had to live hand to mouth. Guiding us through both worlds is our protagonist Jack (Jurdi, who I haven't seen much of before but carries the film beautifully). As he wheels and deals and finally lands himself a potential "make it or break it" deal at a palatial Malibu villa which has all kind of strings attached, the film veers between dark comedy, lightweight thriller, and zingy socioeconomic commentary. Throughout it all, we have terrific performances pushing things forward, from Lowe to Reynolds to the excellent Fahey and Clark (also up and comers who have hopefully bright futures)."Pocket Listing" could be looked at as many things: a real estate movie, a morality play, a sexy, comedic thriller, but I most prefer to place it in the category of great genre movies about L.A. The city tells its story in this film, and in the end the story becomes a wide-ranging tall tale of a city and its inhabitants.

I haven't really seen anything quite like "Pocket Listing" in a while. Part social satire, part dramedy, and part neo noir, the film cleverly combines various genre elements to create a sensationalized, slickly produced journey into the cutthroat world of Los Angeles real estate.A sharp, witty script filled with crisp dialogue is elevated by strong performances from a colorful cast of actors who all seem to be having a really good time. Familiar faces like Lowe and Reynolds sprinkle in their battle-tested charisma, but it's really the newcomers that make this a home run. Jurdi delivers a ferociously self-assured and engaging performance as a broker whose career takes a nosedive after one bad deal, sending him on a roller coaster of betrayal, unexpected opportunity, and treacherous trap doors. He is smooth as silk but manages to maintain a level of affability and charm which keeps us rooting for his character. Fahey is top-notch as a villainous, ice-cold, trust fund kid cokehead, and Clark is stunningly sexy and well- cast as a bored showpiece wife who is smarter, and more ruthless, than she appears."Pocket Listing" is an ambitious and admirable film. You can feel that the filmmakers were trying to mix in a lot of stylistic techniques. Director Conor Allyn pays homage to the likes of Guy Ritchie and the Coen Brothers in a few scenes, and the whole picture almost feels like a tribute to both the sprawling melting pot that is Los Angeles as well as to the kind of off-kilter anti-heroes that we've met and grown to idolize in films like "Big Lebowski" and "Wall Street." Rarely does a film offer equal parts gloss and depth. This is one of them.