This is a definite netflix rental for those of you who love Zooey Deschanel, Christopher Lloyd and New Orleans. It's been a while since I viewed the movie but I have been meaning to post something up. It should have stayed out in the theaters longer and I think suffered from the promotional poster more than anything.
In a typical big corporation versus small mom and pop struggle they replace the Starbucks Coffee with cereal. On one corner you have your originals, locals, and committed aficionados and across the street you have your corporate opportunist not exactly sure why the coffee shop (err cereal shop) is doing so well but hell bent to imitate it without its soul of course.
Sorry Starbucks customers although you might have heard this Starbucks is not the new age feel good place they pretend to be. Behind that edge of pretentiousness we all can feel at our local Starbucks lies a heartless corporate behemoth that rules with an absurdly iron fist. Ever notice how there aren't any fliers or promotional material up for your local open mikes, authors, or environmental groups? Starbucks isn't about anything else other than making money. The movie Flakes turns the coffee motif on its head but sets out to expose, and mock that insincerity of purpose while also mocking themselves. I mean we are talking about cereal here right?
Zooey of course turns in her slightly off kilter but centered at the heart performance, unconventional but charming, appearing flaky but actually not so much. Christopher Lloyd is his disheveled taxi cab self and sets in perfectly onto the back drop that is the uniqueness of New Orleans.
Aaron Stanford plays the employee of the local cereal bar and of course is in the process of defining himself one way or the other. It's Zooey's job as his paramour to help him along. It's cruel to be kind is the old saying but the only thing cruel about this movie is that it was swept under the carpet before it had its chance.
Highly recommended for Zooey fans, Christopher Lloyd fans, fans of New Orleans, and for local coffee shop denizen's around the world. Also recommended for pretentious Starbucks zombies who can't see the soullessness behind the glare of the counter and the noise of the machines or worse yet don't care.
Three full stars for fun, laughs and romance and a little righteous political indignation.
No comments:
Post a Comment