The Independent (2000)

With 427 films like Twelve Angry Men and A Baby The Man With Two Things and The Heart is A Strong Muscle Morty Fineman (JERRY STILLER) has made audiences laugh cry think and feel. But now he/s broke and must turn to his estranged daughter Paloma (JANEANE GAROFALO) to help find a way to save his company.The Independent is the story of one man's struggle for a little bit of recognition. It's filled with interviews from Morty's celebrity friends clips from his thirty years of films and a cinema verite camera which follows Morty and Paloma as they try to find the money to help him complete his latest work the socially conscious semi-erotic thriller Ms. Kevorkian. The Independent is filled with great performances and finds its way into your hands as the result of the settling of a lawsuit with a now-defunct terrible little independent film distributor the ugly details of which we are contractually unable to revisit here. Enjoy!System Requirements:Approx. 85 MinutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: COMEDY/SHOWBIZ UPC: 783722274422 Manufacturer No: 27442 Product Description

So Much Better than I Thought at First Look

Ten minutes into the movie and I was beginning to think it wasn't going anywhere. I'd just about decided to get up and pop the disc out of the player. But, what the heck, I didn't want to go back to the video store, so I decided to give it a few more minutes. Besides, I'd just poured my second glass of wine. So I settled back and prepared for more of the same.

So why did I wind up laughing so hard and so long? It looks like Ron Howard and Peter Bogdanovich new a little something I didn't. This movie took me back over the years and made me laugh, made think about the last four decades, made me sympathize and understand a man like Morty Fineman who just wants his day in the sun, just wants a little recognition. Don't we all.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene, Number One fan of Ken Douglas, writer of Tangerine Dream and Desperation Moon. One of the advantages of being married to a writer is that there are always plenty of good books around the house. It's turned me into quite a reader and allowed me to discover many new books. March 25, 2008

Jerry Stiller makes this movie work

Let me begin by saying you have to love Jerry Stiller to love this movie, because he's in just about every scene. And he's the Jerry you loved in Seinfeld, as well as many other incarnations. He's loud, he's rude, and he's hilarious. This movie would not have worked with anyone else in the lead role.

The idea of the film is that Stiller is the ultimate independent film producer, Morty Fineman. His movies may not be great art, but there sure are a lot of them. One of the best gags in this film is to just sit back and enjoy the titles for all the films. A lot of work went into conjuring up literally hundreds of titles--some of which will make you laugh out loud. To catch them all, you should check out the very well-done companion web site...

You'll probably enjoy this movie best if you're in the 35-45 age range, because it will take you back to all those drive-in movie classics you loved as a teenager. August 24, 2003

More reviews at Amazon.com ...