Was the goal here to present a bunch of awful people, with no redeeming qualities, and have them have a near-death experience to humanize them? Was the goal to show how "ugly" all these "friends" are and have no one realize the error of their ways? Or was just a swing and a miss on behalf of the studio? In any case, I kept watching hoping someone would be a good person and no one ever was. They all sucked, they shouldn't be friends and all the interpersonal relationships were based on self-interest. How they got all these amazing actors to take part in beyond me.

I just finished watching this as a rental (It also was available only on DVD, not even Blu-Ray, which is rare these days, even for a movie that went straight to disk, but then it WAS made in 2008).While I agree with a few of the negative comments made by some who didn't like the film, I also agree with all of the positive comments by those who did, as well. I thought it was a fair amount of fun, if not "laugh-out-loud" funny, and I've always enjoyed Missi Pyle.I think the fact that this was made BEFORE Melissa McCarthy became a big star and BEFORE Octavia won Best Actress in a Supporting Role for "The Help," certainly DIDN'T help make it a more marketable movie for theaters, as all I can find in the way of theater showings is a bunch of film festivals and ONE "limited release" in September 2009, and it doesn't even say WHERE, plus one brief showing in Palm Springs.William Sanderson, of course, has been around, like, FOREVER (my favorite role for him -- probably his most memorable -- was as the puppet maker in "Blade Runner"). But as a character actor, most folks don't know his name.I think this is good enough that were it released AGAIN during a slow period of the movie year (like the fall or winter), it could probably have a decent showing -- especially now that Melissa and Octavia are stars. Jeff

Firstly, I'd like to get this out of the way: If you have not watched a movie in its entirety, you have no business reviewing it. That would be like listening to the first note of a song, or reading the first line of a book and panning it. Shame.Now, on to the business of reviewing. While not the best movie in the world, it is certainly far from being the worst. There will always be something for someone to criticise, but for the most part, this movie is funny, sad, maddening, sappy in parts, and even hits a few sore spots. This is all good in my book. If seeing the real truth about yourself, or someone else, for the first time doesn't initially make you at least a little angry, then...Not all film is supposed to be a masterpiece of cinema. Some are just there to entertain us a bit and, if possible, to help us along the way. This may just be one of those.The premise is okay, just an excuse to get a group of people together. The story you can read about in the plot synopsis. The acting is quite good, considering that coming off as an every-day person in a movie is a lot harder than it seems. And I was happy to see some of my favourites: Missi Pyle, Melissa McCarthy, Octavia Spencer (all of whose talents are abundant), Larry Sullivan (adorable and hot at the same time, not easy for a real actor), William Sanderson (that's the way he speaks; nice to see someone not try to botch a local accent). Also noteworthy were Philip Littell (as the repressed, judgmental Richard) and Phil Lewis (whose Raye gives Wayne Brady a run for his money as the "whitest black guy").All in all, much better than most of the drivel out there that people actually pay to see. Quite a few belly laughs and some intimate moments, different for each, that may ignite a spark.

I also stopped watching about 10-20 minutes in. That's a very rare move for me. I consider myself from rural America, and found the "blacks in these parts" bit tiresome. Also, why was the local hillbilly (in Missoula, Montana, a city of at least 60,000... with hundreds of African-Africans living there as well as a university with a large international population) speaking with such an aw-shucks southern accent? Montana is not The South. It just gets under my skin when it seems as though all people outside of the Northeast or California are portrayed speaking in folksy, Appalachian drawls. Apologies for not sitting through it, but... I was a trifle insulted.