I must say, I really mean it, I must! say! it is one of the worst and most pathetic pieces of movie that I ever saw. I tried, God knows I tried to appreciate it! Just so you know, I survived things such as Force-T, The Russian Specialist, Arena and Solo Voyage so it's not bad will. My original goal was to spend a good evening watching this movie. But further and further the minutes advanced, more and more the scenes followed each other, I knew that it was establishing new standards in boringness. I watched it until the end alright, which makes it one hundredth of a star above the movie Le Golem de Montreal: one of the rare films I've ever stopped watching (I should say suffering) because it was awfully unbearable.Such bad movies as the ones I previously named (exept Le Golem) have one advantage : being bad in a way that makes them funny. Pizza is just bad in a way that makes it pathetic. Makes one wonder how could time, energy, talent and material be wasted to create such a thing. Above all, makes one wonder how to give less than 1 out of 10 to a movie that doesn't even deserve this lowest score.I won't waste any time talking about things like the acting, the screenplay or directing. I'll just say they're awful, very awful, overall.If you're looking for a teenage story in the likes of Napoleon Dynamite, forget Pizza. I would rather suggest Harold, which is far from being a masterpiece but still enjoyable and way better than this one.

"Pizza" is a sweetly droll portrait of the impact two disparate people have on each other over one night in a small town.Writer/director Mark Christopher brings to bear some of the freshness of the likes of "Napoleon Dynamite," "Me and You and Everyone We Know" and MTV's "Daria." He is particularly good at capturing the dialog, rhythms and social interactions of teens and post-adolescents. Kylie Sparks as "Cara-Ethyl" is the stand out in carrying the film with her twixt childhood and adulthood 18th birthday girl, quickly switching from big sister knocking down an annoying little brother (exceptionally foul-mouthed, but believably played) to painfully trying to fit in with the high school in crowd to wisely sizing up her companion for the night. She is funny, poignant and moving. She's so good as the chubby, bespectacled outsider that it was unnecessary to have a poster from the musical "Hairspray" shown over and over behind her during a karaoke number.Ethan Embry as 30-year-old "Matt Firenze" the pizza delivery guy she latches on to takes surprising directions in self-discovery; he charmingly is not a stereotyped hunk as he learns to move beyond that comfortably easy role. The film ends up being more about him finally learning to grow up, even as it is realistic about their relationship.It's nice to see Jesse McCartney satirize his usual pop image, even in a tiny role, while the casting of rail thin Alexis Dziena unintentionally supports the commentary on Hollywood images of teens as she's gone on to star in ABC's "Invasion." The point is nicely demonstrated how everyone is striving, inappropriately, to be in an older in crowd.Too bad the adults are so broadly drawn as to bring down the film, particularly Julie Haggerty's temporarily blinded mother, even though the film ironically recalls her classic encounters in Albert Brooks's "Lost in America." And why is she carrying around that hairbrush? Overall, the success of the film is because the characters are neither sentimentalized nor patronized. They make mistakes and they don't always do the right thing, but somehow they learn something through a night of delivering pizzas.The interstitial animations that play off pizzas are cute.The Wilton, PA filming locations are very effectively used to convey small town life.

"Pizza" is full of fun surprises. I felt a steady stream of laughter throughout, even though there were moments that broke my heart. You can't help but fall in love with the 2 main characters, as well a number of the minor ones. I think that anyone who sees this movie will see a bit of themselves in them. It seems to me that the plus-size young actress who plays CaraEthyl (Kylie Sparks)should take great pride in her performance. I understand she is new on the movie scene, but oh so convincing. You can't help but love her. The music is great, takes you on quite a ride all the way to the end of the credits. Its a must see.

Pizza was publicly screened for the first time at the Los Angeles Film Festival on the 21st.It's no overstatement that this is a film I've been hoping for ever since I first sat down and watched "The Breakfast Club," all those years ago. Like master teen storyteller John Hughes himself, Pizza bring Teen cinema to a height that few are aware it can achieve. It's not a bunch of teens wandering around, pretending to cry, trying to have sex with each other. It's not an excuse to show off a pair of breasts.It's just an honestly honest movie.Pseudo-hunk Ethan Embry delivers with power I had no clue he had in him. Honestly, watching Ethan Embry in Sweet Home Alabama and watching Ethan Embry in Pizza, they look the same, but you get the feeling you're looking at the NOT evil twin. Newcomer Kylie Sparks (who was, very humbly, at the screening I attended) shines wonderfully as the overweight, mal-adjusted, teetering on the brink of adulthood lead, like Ricki Lake before her. Actually, I take that back, she's BETTER than Ricki Lake.Pizza remains fresh and entertaining throughout. If perhaps it does fall into the "I love you, I hate you, I love you, I hate you" thing a little too much, it manages to tell a story of love and finding yourself without getting preachy, without copping out.At the screening, writer/director Mark Christopher mentioned current plans to do a horror flick and a family/farm flick next, but if we're lucky, he'll come the way of teenybopper angst just one more time before he gives it up completely.If it gets distribution, which it should, I'll definitely see it again.9/10