I have watched this movie 4 or 5 times on HBO However, it was only after noticing one or two scenes that looked somehow familiar first viewing that we realized it was the Green Light movie project. The films title wasn't mentioned very much in the Greenlight series..it was just "the film"The critics of this movie seem to be Greenlight Runners Up who failed to get the award. Since all their comments have nothing to do with the movie but are a critique surrounding its creation. The plot scenario is hilarious,.... the British humor is where I grew up.Lots of sour grapes in rotten tomatoes.,

This crappy movie was almost as annoying as the HBO docuwhinementary about the dysfunctional twits that made it. One cliché heaped upon another and not a single laugh burst forth, not even a chuckle, not even a harrumph and nary a snicker. Complete crap of which everyone involved should be completely ashamed for their participation. I'm betting this dog won't make it onto many a resume for cast and crew. The wannabe director that won the competition to do this farce needs to unlearn all that he thinks he knows and work in the real world for a while before attempting another project even if its an infomercial. That mouthy, arrogant drama queen that derived so much pleasure from causing everyone so much anxiety during the shooting has hopefully ruined her career with her unprofessional and unnecessary bitchiness. I expect a lot more than crap like this from HBO. If I could have given it a zero I would have.

I think that once a little time has separated THE LEISURE CLASS from the trumped up drama and cheap "reality" of Project Green Light, the film will be treated a little more fairly.Not that it's a good film. It mostly isn't. The whole first half is filled with unearned character motivations, plagued by pacing problems and tedious to the point of boredom, particularly anytime Tom Bell is talking. Bell's character is almost insufferable. An alcoholic so destructive to any social situation he's in that he must be mentally I'll. This could be seen as a pretty ambitious character for a social satire, except that it's all meaningless, which is most evident when he turns out to be a good guy in tune with his flaws for the tidy ending. So the bell character ends up neither being enjoyable nor consistent.Where the film does deserve some credit is in its thematic ambition, its mean spirit and... the hunting room. Now this is the scene everyone complains about the most, but it's the only part of the movie that actually worked on a substantive level for me. Once the tone of the film grows darker and the cast descends into the basement the film tilts towards the brilliant. This is in large part due to the amazing performance by Bruce Davison. To be fair, Davison is the only actor with a real character to work with in this film. A character that's been hiding his true ugly-resentful-misogynist nature all along. He is the leisure class. Corrupt, selfish and old- world to a fault. And as he reveals himself, Davison gives it his all, almost saving the movie for me. But don't worry, after that it's pretty much back to its sloppy ways as it rushes towards an unearned resolution.A side note, Bridget Regan turns in a strong performance that lives almost entirely in her subtle reactions, mostly because she doesn't have a lot to work with.

The central issue of how The Leisure Class might have been better has nothing to do with all the drama depicted on Project Greenlight. The central issue is the time structure of having the story take place on a single afternoon/night. Funny how none of the cooks stirring the broth brought up this problem. As it plays out, how does the audience know Charles/Thomas is a con man? If we were given some background from the months leading up to the wedding, it would give us time to figure it out. Instead we just see him reacting to his brother's arrival like he's a walking turd without knowing why. Like the storyline, the film seems compressed; scenes needed more time to breathe. For instance, it seems like mere seconds pass between when the characters show up uninvited to a party and when they go skinny-dipping in the pool. Which would make Leonard not the only thoughtless cad. Between the show and the film, ironies abound. Jason Mann is obsessed with shooting on film, even though the movie is destined for the small screen on HBO. Effie Jones is obsessed with diversity, and then the movie has none on screen. (One wonders if the black extra who was originally going to be depicted as a chauffeur would have preferred having a job that depicts him in a servant role, which Effie vetoed, to not having a job at all.) Mann is selected as the winning director, but was supposed to be filming a different script, which even he knew he wasn't right for. If I were one of the competing finalists, I'd be p.o.'d. As in, hey, why couldn't I have pitched MY script?