Sometimes, or is it all the time, it seems like the people in charge of selling a movie are working directly in opposition to the original intents and artistic dreams of the actual creative people who make movies. I know that it's the job of distributors to get people to watch a movie they're putting out, I guess by any means necessary. But if they create an ad campaign, a movie poster, or DVD box art which is deliberately misleading as to the actual content of the movie, isn't that just going to either tick or turn people off? Seriously, if you create a sexy, silly cover for an ambitious, serious film, either you're going to a.)disappoint the people attracted to such a cover when they don't get what they were looking for or b.)keep people who would actually like such a film from ever renting it, or c.) both. For example, this film. I didn't watch it, and had no real interest in watching it, essentially based on the cover art and title. (I mean, sure, I was not exactly jazzed to check out the newest Dax Shepard vehicle either, but more on that later...) The title, the tagline, and the cutesy cover with stars Shepard and Katie Aselton all wrapped up in a blanket and giving us a comically-cute 'oops!' look makes it look like a lowbrow, cheesy romantic comedy, and the premise (unhappy couple decides to give each other the titular 'freebie' one-night stand with someone else apiece) is the stuff of lousy guy comedies (see last year's Hall Pass, etc.) But, since I had an undeniably-too-cool-not-to-tell reason to actually watch the thing (I got to interview star/director/writer Aselton) and I have to say The Freebie is really, really good. In addition to starring in this (and the very funny series 'The League'), Aselton is married to indie filmmaker (and co-father of the so-called 'mumblecore' movement) Mark Duplass, and in this, her directorial debut, she shows a real affinity for that genre's improvisational, conversational and emotionally-raw style, and creates a smart, legitimately moving examination of one couple's misguided attempt to sort out their relationship. Shepard and Aselton play Darren and Annie, a genuinely-happy, compulsively-honest couple who admit, one night, that their sex life has become routine. And so the 'one-night stand' plan. What's truly impressive is how organically the premise gets introduced; the two actors so ably create a very specifically-believable couple that you go along with their reasoning, even though you are pretty sure they're making a terrible mistake. That's a credit to the two actors, in more ways than one. I noticed that there are no writing credits listed for The Freebie on IMDb, and none in the movie itself, and Aselton confirmed to me on the phone (that's the last time I name drop, I promise), that, while she wrote her film's outline, the entire thing was improvised. And, while Aselton's background in the mumblecore genre, and the improv-heavy 'The League' reveals that she's got the chops for such an undertaking (and she is heartbreaking, winning, and lovely), the real revelation is Shepard. You might recognize him from comedies of such variable quality as Let's Go to Prison, Idiocracy, Without a Paddle, and Baby Mama, but absolutely nothing in his previous work suggested he could pull something like this off. As the two go through their painful journey into sexual adventurousness and, maybe, back again, the two actors make us care, and empathize, every step of the way, with Aselton's sure hand behind the camera providing sensitive, sure guidance. I popped this DVD in, honestly, out of a sense of obligation and, largely thanks to how it was marketed, absolutely no expectations whatsoever. I finished it with a continued respect for Aselton, a newfound one for Shepard, and a reaffirmed belief that movie marketing is headed up, by and large, by a team of trained chimps with cocaine habits. Ignore the cover, watch the movie.

This is just such a terrible film. I can't actually remember the last time I had to turn a film off halfway through.The acting is just amateur, characters are two dimensional, and the plot is so slow it barely moves.The camera angles and way its directed are clearly trying to make it more "true to life" but I feel sorry for anyone has a life is that slow and monotone. Its like watching an old man fall asleep in slow motion.Its not smart, its not funny, its not enlightening...its just dull and dragged out.If two people sitting in bed talking really slowly about nothing in particular and nothing actually happening is for you, or if you want a sure way to fall asleep..watch this film.

In my quest to watch all things Katie Aselton, I thought I'd found pure gold when I stumbled upon this movie. I watched the preview to see if my bounty was true or fools gold. The preview played it off like a light hearted romantic comedy so I was sold! Much like the premise of the better known comedy Hall Pass, a young couple comes to an agreement to take one night off from their marriage in hopes of rekindling the spark in their relationship. Much UNLIKE the better known comedy Hall Pass, this is not a comedy at all but rather a horror movie. Their guilt and shame at what they've done destroys the bedrock of their relationship and we're left to pick up the pieces. Dax Shepard and director Katie Aselton are pleasant enough as the young couple but I watched the first half of this movie thinking that this doesn't look like a couple that is having intimacy problems. The second half of the movie I just thought Dax's character was a jackass. Katie, of course, was a princess. I found it to be very similar to Indecent Proposal in that it tells the story of a young couple that tempts fate in an attempt to save their relationship only to find they've set about destroying it instead.http://scottishtexan.blogspot.com

I seriously don't want to spend any other minute related to that movie. I'm only reviewing it to save someone else's useful time.This is one of the worst movies I've seen in quite a bit. Not for the film itself, but the script. It's absolutely conservatory and backward-thinking!! I was just BORED throughout all the few 77 minutes (which could easily have been 7). It doesn't go anywhere, it's just stuck in one point! A script needs to evolve in order to get the spectator's attention!The direction was really poor, I don't think there even was an art director or a photography director on the team. There are some completely useless cuts and scenes, the background is ridiculous, the cameras are flippin' crazy... and I don't really like Dax Shepard, but that's just me.But the worst is really the story of it all, that script. c'mon, it's 2011, we've already passed even the "it's the 21st century" thing, 'cause it got old. there is absolutely no use for that kind of movie in these days.If you're anyhow open-minded about sex, love and relationships, you're gonna hate this movie.