Bug (2007)

CALL ORKIN!

In this claustrophobic tale set in a low rent motel in nowheresville, Ashley Judd's character meets a whacked-out Gulf War vet. The latter is convinced that the government has implanted insects into his skin. The story unfolds with deepening levels of paranoia within the walls of the seedy motel until a self-immolating climax at the end.

I guess the multiple cans of Raid and flypaper strips didn't work.

The pacing is glacial. The plot is thin and unconvincing.

Other than that, it's a great movie!

This stinkeroo needs a can of Glade air freshener to dispel the stench.
November 15, 2008

DO NOT LISTEN TO THE BAD REVIEWS! This movie is INCREDIBLE!

*** NO spoilers***
Do not miss this great movie if you are a fan of David Lynch and David Cronenburg movies! It is very Kafkaesque. The people who gave this movie a bad review have no idea how good this movie is. Why do I say that? Because they just don't get it. They are simple minded generic viewers who want a movie to be predictable and think for them. Ok, so if you are like me, then you will definitely want to give this movie a chance. I almost didn't buy this because of the bad reviews here. What a mistake that would have been. I would have missed out on this INCREDIBLE masterpiece of a movie. For once, the REAL critics got this one right. It recieved a 70% rating from all the top critics as shown at the compilation review site: rotten tomatoes dot com, with both Roger Ebert and Richard Roeper giving it "thumbs up" and high praise. 70% on that site is actually considered really good.

Only to give you the background of my credentials, I say:
I am a huge movie fan who was buying Laserdiscs back in the day when everyone else was watching VHS tapes. I had a DVD player the first month they were released when they cost $1200 and movies on regular DVD were $30 a piece. My current home theater is incredible with a Pioneer Elite Kuro 60" Plasma and audiophile HDMI 1.3 / 7.1 surround setup. Watching movies at my place is almost better than going to an actual theater. My movie collection is the largest of anyone I have ever met and all my friends trust my recommendations for their movie types and tastes.

Ok, so take my word for it. This movie is INCREDIBLE. If you like David Lynch and David Cronenburg movies, then this is one you will enjoy. If you think Brad Pitt did an amazing acting job in Terry Gilliam's "12 Monkeys", then this movie is for you. If you liked movies like "Naked Lunch", "Spun", "Mulholland Drive", "Spider", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", "Sling Blade", "The Salton Sea", "Papillon", and "Conspiracy Theory", then this movie is for you!

Michael Shannon does the best acting of his career in this movie equaling Brad Pitt's performance in "12 Monkeys". Ashley Judd's best acting of her career is shown here. Harry Connick Jr. is so good here that you almost forget he's a great musician because you want to hate him. ALL incredible acting performances. The other people's reviews here on Amazon that said the acting was bad, HAVE NO CLUE what great acting is, so do not believe them! This is some of the finest acting work I have ever seen for this type of movie. It really takes talented actors to do these characters and everyone here is in top notch form.

Great set design, cinematography, and directing!

Be warned, this movie is DARK and haunting. It's not a Horror movie in the sense of monsters and ghosts. It's a horror movie in the way that it could actually happen in real life. It's dirty and gritty. Very Kafka (google it if you don't know). The only small amount of humor found here is in some of the sarcastic comebacks in a little of the dialog. The rest is very dark with some shocking moments. It does contain sex, drugs, and violence, but it is presented in an artful form that enhances the storyline.

Highly Recommended for fans of something dark and different!
Thank you so much William Friedkin, Ashley, Harry, and Michael!
It's a brilliant masterpiece in it's genre! A+
November 1, 2008

Sorry Ashley

This movie was complete garbage. This whole white trash redneck setting is uninteresting. This movie is very slow to develop. I found myself not caring about any of the characters. About 3/4 of the way through the DVD started to skip so I decided to remove the IV keeping this film on life support and not complete it. Sorry Ashley. October 8, 2008

ONE OF THE WORST " PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER EVER"

Fully aware, it's just a movie. I blame the director's and writers for creating such a lousy film. There were too many weak leaks in this movie. Psychological thriller is a specific sub-genre of the wide-ranging thriller genre.Generally; thrillers focus on plot over fictional characters, and thus emphasize intense physical action over the character's psyche. Psychological thrillers tend to reverse this formula to certain degree, emphasizing the characters just as much, if not more so, than the plot. This movie shows two characters preying upon one another minds, either by playing deceptive games with the other or by merely trying to demolish the other's mental state. This character had a severe disorder marked by degeneration of mental and social functioning and withdrawal form reality. The character Ashley played, was along venerable and physically abuse. How could anybody allow you to see something that doesn't t exist. Moral to the story is sometimes the suspense comes from within one solitary character where characters must resolve conflicts with their own minds,usually;this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them. All what I mention in this review,didn't see any of this in the movie. October 4, 2008

This "Bug" has Bite!

This is one of those films in whether you love it, or you hate it. If you're a fan of Friedkin's other works (The Exorcist, The Sorcerer), then this one has all the tension cranked up on full load. Some of the other reviewers gave this 1 Star, but that is probably because this is not an easy film to watch, almost to a point of not wanting to look at the images Friedkin throws at the audience. But that is his trademark, to shock, to terrify, and to get under your skin and make you think about what you saw for many days after.
Ashley Judd does an excellent job and the rest of the cast hold their own as well. Also make sure you watch the "Discussion with William Friedkin" on the bonus material, you'll understand him for not only being one of the most talked about "control freaks" in Hollywood, but you'll understand why he was and what he was intending to do with his audiences.
Pure genius. September 28, 2008

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