Hadrina
The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful
Lidia Draper
Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.
Bob
This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.
Aspen Orson
There is definitely an excellent idea hidden in the background of the film. Unfortunately, it's difficult to find it.
ecf-48492
Addicted to Fresno is full of artfully-crafted deadpan situations that probably created quite a few amusing bloopers. The star Natasha Lyonne has great control of her expression. The other actors and actresses complement her talents well, but she really stood out.Presumably, this was a low budget movie but nevertheless the cinematography was excellent. As a photographer, I often was impressed with how well the lighting was controlled (for example, the poetry scene on the loading dock; scenes in the hotel hallway, never a good lighting situation; the pet cemetery scene). OK, maybe most people wouldn't care about these details, but if the producer had not properly lit these scenes, the movie would not have been as pleasant to watch even if nothing else had changed. Appreciate what you don't notice as much as what you do notice.Don't look for any deep philosophical plot; just take the movie as the comedy that it was intended to be. Loved it.
David Ferguson
Greetings again from the darkness. It's not quite a unicorn, but it seems fair to call it a White Harbour Porpoise. Yes, it's that rare to see a Comedy movie written by a woman, directed by a woman, starring women in a story about women. And it's that rarity which makes it all the more disappointing when the finished product doesn't match the expectation.The cast is loaded with funny people, many of whom are best known for their work on TV. However, that's not what makes this feel like an aimless TV sitcom straining too hard to make us laugh, often through cheap shock value. The movie leaves us with the feeling that writer Karey Dornetto ("Portlandia") and director Jamie Babbit (But I'm a Cheerleader, "Gilmore Girls") have spent too many hours studying the work of Judd Apatow, rather than letting their own voices speak. We are teased with glimpses, but mostly just left wanting.On the bright side, Judy Greer finally gets a lead role after seemingly hundreds of support roles where she has often been the best thing about a movie. Yet somehow the filmmakers manage to dull Ms. Greer's natural glow as she plays Shannon, a registered sex offender with little desire to break her sex addiction, or even become the least bit likable. The very talented Natasha Lyonne plays Martha, Shannon's younger lesbian sister who is her personality polar opposite, yet never can quite escape the "bad luck" following her around.Martha decides to make Shannon's recovery her mission in life, and secures her a job so they can work together as maids at a local motel. What follows is an accidental murder, a frantic attempt to dispose of the body, a mentally challenged housekeeping supervisor, multiple instances of sexual confusion, a sex shop hold-up, blackmailing pet cemetery owners, a profane rapping boy at his bar mitzvah, an inappropriate relationship with a therapist that breaks up a marriage, and a running gag with a chubby hotel guest in a Hawaiian shirt carrying a little dog. All of that zaniness leads to a disproportionately few number of laughs, although we do get a terrific Cousin It impersonation and an extremely rare (maybe a first ever?) Hammer-throw joke.What's lacking here, despite the best efforts of Ms. Greer and Ms. Lyonne, is any semblance of humanity or realism
necessities for comedy. We just never make any connection with the main characters. The supporting cast provides numerous diversions and feature the familiar faces of Ron Livingston (the therapist mentioned above), an underutilized Aubrey Plaza, Molly Shannon, the duo of Fred Armisen and Alison Tolman playing opportunistic small business owners, Jessica St Clair as one of the more emotional front desk clerks you'll ever see, Jon Daly as one of the more unfortunate characters, and Malcolm Barrett as Shannon's latest love interest/poet.Of course, in keeping with the film's title there is a never-ending stream of insults directed at the city of Fresno. If that much attention had been paid to the sister relationship and the forming of characters, perhaps the comedy would have been more effective. Instead, if you are all set on watching sisters working together in the clean-up business, the better recommendation would be Sunshine Cleaning.
zif ofoz
Addicted to Fresno is funny, cute, and makes for an entertaining movie. But something just doesn't come together and I do not know what it is. The setup is perfect, the characters are just cracked enough to be harmless and fun, and the plot keeps your interest. When it is over it just doesn't feel as if it were a fully baked movie.With a great cast of comic actors, each doing their role just fine, you'd think this movie would be a comic hit but it falls flat in the end. And I don't know why! Maybe it's the contrast of the title and the story that don't make sense. Addicted? Maybe not. Just "Fresno" would have been better choice.It is still worth seeing! The group therapy scenes are funny and the pet funeral home scenes are the best!
kinglyostrich
As a resident of Fresno I found this movie to be simply terrible. Not because of any city bashing or anything like that, it was just extremely unappealing. Fresno doesn't get very many shout-outs in film. I remember in the movie, Monsters Vs. Aliens, a Fresno name drop garnered whooping from everyone in the theatre. So when Addicted to Fresno information started popping up people here were starting to get excited. And when this reaches a wider release they will be disappointed.This slow burn of a film felt twice it's length as we watch unlikable characters follow a predictable plot in the most unappealing way possible. I would give the director credit in making an ugly movie, fitting to Fresno, but after watching her work I think it was just a lucky\unlucky accident. I love crude humor, things that make me cringe and ugly people doing ugly things, however this just felt like going for disgusting for the sake of it. There was no substance in the script at all. I was offended solely because of any praise whatsoever that is garnered for this trashy, dense, slow "comedy".What irks me the most is that this is supposed to prove women can work in the film industry. The story is very feminism driven and with a stacked female cast and both the director and writer being women this feels like an embarrassment to the whole idea of that. I am all for equality and the likes but choose something else to jump behind when promoting feminism. Especially when the only two people putting effort into this craft were Jon Daly and Fred Armisen.Indie movies are indie movies for one of two reasons. It pushes the envelope in experimental and artistic ways, or it is a piece of crap movie that major studios are smart enough not to touch. I'll let you guess which one Addicted to Fresno is.