maz underscore

(2013-06-17 19:29:52)

A gritty and hilarious black comedy.

Big Nothing is a wonderfully black comedy with a tight twisted plotline, a very well chosen soundtrack and perfect acting. It's fastpassed, interesting and very funny.Simon Pegg is just amazing as con man Gus and even David Schwimmer issurprisingly wonderful as the misguided Charlie. The supporting cast isalso brilliant, especially the surprise of Mimi Rogers as Mrs. Smalls.Although this films plot isn't completely original and you can tellwhere the writer got a lot of his ideas from; the acting, direction andcinematography really make it something special and worth watching.It's strange seeing the very talented British comedian Simon Pegg inthe role of a burly American con man, but he really does pull it offand if you had any doubts about him as a character actor before thisfilm should set that straight. He is just wonderful.Although I enjoyed Schwimmers acting in this, I thought his charactercould've been a little more developed as someone who was a little moredesperate for money. His relationship with his wife could've beenexplored a little more too. Big nothing has everything a good black comedy should have and more.

southafricanrob

(2013-06-17 05:16:15)

Very Bad Things meets Guy Ritchie

from a plus side a good story, not overly predictable nor overlycomplex - a viable watch after a long day. Comparable to 'Very badthings' or 'Edmond' in its darkly comedic tragedy Big Nothing seems tobe split down the middle for me...on one hand it is great as the darklycomic disaster with a fun yet uncertain plot reminding me of lock stockyet it is wrongly cast for this comparison. Imagine a younger cockierskank in the lead female role and something like of Colin Farrel's 'inbruges' character as one of the lead males resulting in an edgier takeon big nothing. Not to say the comedic side of Schwimmer/Pegg (whowhere okay but definitely not great in Run Fatboy Run) don't work wellhere - they do nicely but it creates a slightly out of place lighteredge to the movie......overall i'm glad i watched it - it was worthy ofme writing my first IMDb review.... enjoy

JoeytheBrit

(2013-06-12 22:22:56)

Entertaining, but sometimes less is more

This film has a very short running time, little more than one hour 20minutes (including credits) and, more often than not, a brief runningtime means a mess thrown out there into the big wide world by theproducers because it just might recoup some of its cost if they make agood job of the trailer. So I came into this with fairly lowexpectations - but was relatively happy with what I got.The storyline grows so convoluted after the first ten minutes that itwould take three sides of A4 to describe but, in a nutshell, it's abouta blackmail scam that goes fatally wrong. It's the kind of story thatcould have played straight, but the makers here go for laughs and,while there are only a few moments of laugh-out-load material, there'senough good stuff to keep you entertained - even if only by the whaleof a time that everyone seems to be having. Simon Pegg makes aconvincing American, while David Schwimmer manages not to be annoying,and Alice Eve looks gorgeous (and also manages a credible US accent).The film's main stumbling block is that it doesn't know when to stop.The twists and turns to the plot fall over each other in their haste topresent themselves so that they begin to grow a little tiresome. Theinteraction between the main characters is entertaining enough to keepmost viewers happy, so perhaps it would be better if the writers hadconcentrated a little harder on that aspect.All in all though, if you haven't heard of this one before but you'retempted to rent it, give it a go; it probably won't find its way ontoyour top ten all time favourites, but it will keep you entertained. Ohyeah, and Mimi Rogers' 'Well I'll be… I haven't heard Pink Floyd inyears,' line has to be the funniest I've heard in ages.

Neil Welch

(2013-06-12 13:07:03)

Dark humour

This film, which I had never heard of, suddenly appeared on late nightTV and completely caught me by surprise. It marks, I think, the initialmeeting of David Schwimmer and Simon Pegg (Schwimmer subsequentlydirected Pegg in Run Fatboy Run) and an early appearance of Alice Eve(She's Out Of Your League), with decent supporting turns from the likesof Natasha McElhone and Mimi Rogers.Ostensibly a story of a couple of small timers and a girlfriend lookingto indulge in a little blackmail, it turns into the very blackest ofcomedies - violent and bloody and very funny - as everything whichcould go wrong goes wrong, and then some more goes wrong besides.Schwimmer, for once, leaves his whiny Ross persona behind him, Peggtakes on a character which is a great deal less sympathetic than hiscustomary good natured and very British loser, and Eve is sexy andluminously gorgeous (and also extremely funny).I don't know how come this film got so anonymised, but it is well worthsearching out.

robgr85

(2013-06-12 01:33:47)

Damn good!!!!!

Hi! Specially registered on IMDb to share with my feelings about thatfilm. Didn't expect such a good film at first, after few minutesenjoyed it as a kid. I really do claim that film as one of the bestI've ever seen. Great humor, good music, unexpected finish... the moviewas the best made ever.May it seems weird, but I've watched such amounts of bad-movies thatreally killed my power for new comedies. This one changed that, now Iknow that it is still possible to make a really good comedy movie.Producer should be really proud of this movie, everything was OK, theart of playing, choosing the right people to play, suitable soundtrack.Definitely one of 'must seen' movies. 10 points without any doubts! Donot know what else can I say.

(2013-06-11 12:38:52)

Big Nothing = Nothing New

Criminal dark comedy with predictable twists and turns surrounding characters with little or no redeeming qualities. Playing on the now tried-n-true formula for these kinds of movies, which is kind of sad. I remember when this was a fairly fresh concept back in the early 1990's, gotta give Tarantino credit where credit is due. It took twenty years - but now this type of film is now ploddingly predictable.Only thing I enjoyed was Simon Pegg doing a turn as a bleeping bleep. A bit of a role changer as he's usually the nice guy. But, dang, he's still funny playing a no-good shyte.Otherwise, a passable flick if you enjoy these blood-soaked-who-gets-to-live-while-fighting-for-the-money productions.Note: Maybe it's me, but while screening 'Big Nothing', I honestly thought was watching Rebecca Romijn. It wasn't until after the film that I found out that she has a "twin sister" in Alice Eve. Would *love* to see a movie with the two of them together playing unrelated roles. The possibilities are endless. :-D

zitzy2000

(2013-06-08 20:20:31)

Excellent

I had no idea what this movie was about. I didn't look here before, itwas new at the video store, I had a free rental, couldn't find nothingelse, so I decided I would give it a whirl!! Wow, so glad I did. I wasvery surprised at how funny this movie was, just because of the utterridiculous circumstances that these guys get in to. Whatever can gowrong, does go wrong. It is hilarious tho. Ya know people arecomplaining about yeah we have seen this kind of movie before wherethere are a lot of twists and turns (reindeer games) that kind ofthing, but it was enjoyable, funny, lighthearted, not a whole bunch ofcussing which is a good thing, but just a few words. HighlyEntertaining, would recommend to anyone wanting something different,but funny, and seeing what happens to these characters. Good movie.

intelearts

(2013-06-08 01:10:15)

Hmmm... OK, but not up to Pegg's normal brilliance

Big Nothing is a strange beast. If you go in expecting Shaun of theDead or Hot Fuzz you'll be seriously disappointed - it just has nothinglike the laughs, wit, or camera work of these. But as a straight upcrime comedy / thriller it's just about OK.It lacks any real backbone; the roles and the comedy are nicely skewedbut lack any real bite: it all felt rather hollow and predictable.There's too much plot and not enough excellent banter - It will do wellin the local video store, but really needed some flashes of real wit todrive it: a film about losers who bungle just doesn't cut it unlessthere are some real moments that shine and there really is nothingoutstanding here.Schwimmer and Pegg are good together; but again not great - all in alla rather flat offering - and given the pedigree that's a real shame.

Trelloskilos

(2013-06-01 00:50:40)

Fairly sub-par Crime Caper

Includes spoilers Well, I was pretty much underwhelmed by the film.The premise of the tale is of three people who decide to undertake asimple blackmailing of a local dark-horse reverend. Of course, whatstarts of as a fairly simple plan goes disastrously wrong byincrementing degrees.OK, not the most original idea, but what was so much better handled infilms such as the Ladykillers, and Welcome to Collinwood is careless &sloppy here.The film divides itself neatly into two halves. The first half, beingall set inside the targeted rev.'s house. I personally felt that therewas a lot more potential here, as the conceits, plot twists and casesof mistaken identity (not to mention the body-count) pile up. Thesecond half involved an increasingly elaborate plot to dispose of thebodies left over from the first half of the film. Here's where I lostinterest.Two things happened that made me just despair. The first being theintroduction of the diabetic coroner. The second being the 'big twist'around Josie's character.Aside from the fact that the usually brilliant Simon Pegg seemed like ashell of a comedy actor without Nick Frost, and that David Shwimmer'sgamut of emotions have been better used in episodes of "Friends" (Hejust seems to wear the same 'Oh Gee!' face in every scene!), none ofthe characters have any charisma. They are all bland, relativelyuninteresting, and seem almost embarrassed to be involved. The rest ofthe supporting cast have too little screen time (usually because theyare bumped off scant minutes after they appear), but even those who dohave more than 3 lines in the film make such a poor attempt at theirroles, that it is uncomfortable to watch.It's a shame, because there is a lot of potential here.I wouldn't even worry about the raging debate as to whether SimonPegg's American accent was any good or not. In a film that just doesn'tengage on any level, whether or not his accent is up to scratch is avery moot point.

(2013-05-31 19:28:16)

Really enjoyed this

We both thought this movie was a nice surprise. And as someone mentioned it had a great soundtrack.

Melbie82

(2013-05-31 11:55:26)

The Title Speaks for Itself

David Schwimmer (Charlie) and Simon Pegg (Gus) come off as a brilliantcomedic duo in this somewhat well-written dark humored caper story. JonPolito (Agent Hymes), also adds a fair share of humor and good actingto this movie.There are some great things to point out in this film: good acting,good soundtrack, and most notably the the fact that it is hilarious andquick-witted. The story itself is mostly sharp and does give you the"what's going to happen next" feeling.Now to the bad part. At some point in this movie the story spirals outof control and fizzles out, leaving you feeling flat and confused.Things aren't explained and just ends up being pointless, but maybethat was the whole point? Anyways, if you're looking for humor and a good time you'll find plentyof it in this as I definitely say it's worth the watch.

pandabat

(2013-05-30 22:54:01)

Woefully short of acceptable

Have you seen the trailer for this movie? Odds are, if you have, thatyou already seen the best bits. You'll probably have high hopes thatthe banter will be even wittier in the rest of the movie. You'llprobably expect to see a bit more of Natasha McElhone or Alice Eve.You'll probably even expect moments of uncontrollable laughter. Greatexpectations indeed but alas "The Big Nothing" comes nowhere close tofulfilling them. There were less than a handful times that the audiencelaughed during this movie and even then it wasn't the whole cinema. Thehumour ranges from quirky to slapstick but never hits the mark on anyof it. It's a movie that wants to be funny, serious, gory andsurprising but it all comes across as "bland-yet-desperate". It's notthe actors' faults as all give performances that are demanded of thembut they should really have known better after reading the script. Theproblem with this movie is that it should never have been made in thefirst place. There's nothing innovative, new, exciting, funny, daringor even entertaining about it. You've seen all the crazy dialogue,double-crossing and attempts at plot twists before and seen them donebetter too. There's even a desperate attempt at the end of the movie toup the laugh count by showing one out-take as the credits start toroll! Yes, that's correct - one out-take. It's not even a good one. Ifyou like you're comedies to have no laughs and your dramas to have notension then you might like this but I failed to enjoy it from start tofinish.

Clicky

(2013-05-24 21:27:29)

Well rounded but a little chipped around the edges.

If I have to be honest (and this being a movie review I suppose I do) Iwatched this movie sheerly because it had Simon Pegg in it. I hadn'tmuch looked at the plot, and wasn't expecting much of it seeing as IMDbhad rated it with a 6.4. They were right.Let me elaborate. It started out well. Nice credit roll, and judging bythe music this was going to be a 'different' movie. And different in agood way too. It reminded me of Juno, even. But I couldn't have beenmore wrong. Ross-- excuse me, Charlie is the main lead, and plays anunsuccessful loser writer, wallowing in self-pity and not reallygetting along with his wife. Who is the man in the house, might I add.He cares for his little daughter, but that's about the gist of hislife.As soon as we leave the cutesy family life, we go right to Gus "Welcometo hell, ****head" Dickinson. Meet Simon Pegg, with a tragically fakeAmerican accent. I didn't get much time to mourn this, however, seeingas the movie soon turns to cheap sex jokes to illustrate that Gus isnot a Nice Character(tm). This is all okay, though, seeing as later onwe learn he just has a really rough life. Yeah, that makes it allalright.Then, the movie takes a dramatic turn for the worst. After a few scenesthat seem to come completely out of nowhere, Charlie decides to workwith Gus to scam a reverend out of a large sum of money. Not only doesthis seem irrational of a man who has an officer of the law for a wife,it should say something about Gus that he's willing to work togetherwith Charlie only a day after they become coworkers. The new charactersintroduced at this point all feel forced and awkward.The bright and somewhat depressing but still upbeat movie then turnsinto a right out drama fest. One incident is piled up onto the otherand I found myself sighing every time they decided another plot twistwas in order. The movie wasn't bad, per se, just pushing it on thebelievability factor. And with all of the personality changes thecharacters went through, you don't really have time to adjust enough toreally care about them.By the time the end was in sight, I wasn't sure if I wanted the maincharacter to die, or trot off to prison and receive a good smack overthe head so he could smarten up and lead a happy life after he got out.If ever. I was happy with the way it ended, I suppose, though it wouldhave been better if there weren't about two hundred and seventy sixplot twists preceding it, making me expect a little more and care alittle less about the characters themselves.All in all, worth a watch if you're a fan of any of the actors, but notso much if you're not.

MilesM

(2013-05-24 05:20:56)

Comedy?

I have just finished watching the movie, and I'm surprised the genera is labeled as a comedy. In retrospect, the story is funny in that you cant imagine all these bad things happening to the characters. This movie indeed teaches a lesson about life and the choices we make, as well as the consequences. Watch and learn me fellow humans.

DJJOEINC

(2013-05-22 18:26:51)

Awkward mix of Pegg style with Coen brothers

The Big Nothing - a comedy neo noir starring Simon Pegg & DavidSchwimmer with John Polito & Mimi Rogers.A couple of call-centerwashouts put together a scheme to blackmail a local reverend.Things goas planned - the end.....Just kidding- of course things go awry from the first attempt on- andthings keep twisting and turning- and I felt no connection to thecharacters( and I usually love Pegg and think that Schwimmer was funnyon Curb Your Enthusiasm and Friends).But this was a pale imitation of aCoen brothers movie- without the neat soundtrack or interestingcharacters.The DVD has interviews with the cast talking about how theyloved the twisted plot and stuff.A misfire with only a couple ofchuckles for the time invested. D

itamarscomix

(2013-05-22 11:56:29)

Decent dark comedy

Big Nothing is one of many dark crime comedies released in the decadefollowing the release of Snatch, that try to follow the success of GuyRitchie's movies. It has the same relentless pacing and dry humor, butit doesn't have the spark of Snatch or In Bruges. Big Nothing reeks ofeffort with countless contrived plot twists, and excessive use offamiliar tools like narration and split-screen (used often tocompletely pointless results); it also suffers from a very unlikableprotagonist, played by very unlikable David Schwimmer, who fails togenerate either laughs or sympathy. Simon Pegg is a good second-bananathough, and some of the supporting cast do a good job; it's enough tomake it an entertaining movie to pass the time with, but definitely oneyou can live without too.

brucev13

(2013-05-21 03:16:50)

Hilarious and well scripted comedy

More often I see movie makers trying to do something new! Like mixingdifferent genres! Most of the times blending genres is very difficultto do! Once in a while you will have somebody who successfully managesto do so! Jean-Baptiste Andrea is one of these guys! He has made a darkcomedy that is full of suspense with twists and turns you do not seecoming! I can imagine that some scenes are a bit much! That is part ofthe appeal i think! The cast also does a wonderful job! In particularSimon Pegg! The moment he came into the picture I knew it was going tobe fun! David Schwimmer is a good actor that can be funny and beseriously intense when needed! He is a likable guy that has our supportfrom the start! I do want to make a note of it that his role In thismovie however reminded me too much of the character Ross Geller heplayed in the sitcom "Friends"! I am not saying that it is a bad thing!But it wouldn't hurt to see how versatile he is as an actor! "Bignothing" is hilarious and thrilling! Top quality entertainment! A movieyou have to see!

Limbastic

(2013-05-20 18:00:33)

Funniest film I've seen in a LONG time...

As a huge fan of the likes of Tarrantino, Fincher, and the Coenbrothers, I'm betting that the skewed nature of the comedy is not goingto be for everyone, but if you like your movies heavy on the WTFquotient, this one's for you.I saw it at the Cardiff Film Festival last week, and the audiencecouldn't get enough of it. Really a fun "laughing your arse off" kindof a time. The twists, surprises, and laughs build and build to anending which I won't give away but was not at all what I expected. Peggand Schwimmer are a crack comedy duo, but the addition of Eve to theantics ups the ante nicely. It loses a star for taking a bit longer toget going than I would have liked, but I'm not quite sure how I wouldhave cracked that particular nut.All in all, this film's got more energy sparking off it than anythingthat's come down the pipe in quite a while. Will be seeing it againthis weekend with my mates. GO BIG NOTHING!

(2013-05-20 21:15:17)

A whole bunch of dark fun

Just a joy for me to watch! I haven't ever been let down yet by Simon Pegg (the guy from Shawn of the Dead) and his wit plays off of Schwimmer's drollitivity(?) perfectly. The chick is dynamite and she mentally kicks the crap out of the two men who are smart enough to acknowledge it with just the right amount of self deprecation. The plot constantly twists and turns and the comedy is all black. That's key for me. Give me laughs couched in morally questionable (or directly sinful) situations and I'm happy as a clam.

devolucija

(2013-05-19 21:49:33)

The only thing that was good was the Rammstein song

If we were in the early 80s and I was a preteen boy, I would have giventhis movie a whopping 3. Today, in 2007, watching it was an insult. Myroommate is still spazzing out on the floor beside me as I write this,and we've agreed to go out tomorrow and get us some "I saw Big Nothingand all I got was brain damage" t-shirts. My sincere and honestrecommendation is not to watch this movie, not under and drugs, orother perception altering substances. Schwimmer's performance was worsethan the one of Britney in Crossroads, and this man is labeled for lifeas nothing but Ross Geller. Simon Pegg is honestly not made for thisfilm. He fits into a British sit com. And the others... honestly... notworth mentioning. A typical 25yr+ old blonde dressed in pink acting tobe underage (as in all American movies), a Torrente wannabe detectiveand a plot so predictable it's insulting to even try and follow it isnot worth the 80 minutes of your time. In my opinion, an utterdisaster, and a weak attempt of ripping off Lock Stock and Two SmokingBarrels. Very weak.