Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Taha Avalos The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Freeman This film is so real. It treats its characters with so much care and sensitivity.

napierslogs "Blue State" is set after the John Kerry versus George Bush election of 2004. Our hero, John Logue (Breckin Meyer) a staunch democrat vows to move to Canada as a protest if Bush wins. A group called Marry-a-Canadian.ca contacts him and urges him to join them in Winnipeg. So the move to Canada begins.The film is predominantly a road trip. John seeks a driving partner for the trip and finds Chloe (Anna Paquin). There is of course a romance sub-plot between the two. The genius of this film is in the writing of the characters. He's devoted to the left-wing political cause; she's much more mysterious. She guesses what he wants to hear, and he believes her. Although John is extremely liberal, the film isn't. They cleverly wrote in flaws to his character, and although the right-wing characters were more soft-spoken they usually got the last word. People from across the spectrum should be able to appreciate the film. Being liberal myself, I connected to John instantly and his weaknesses just made him that much more endearing to me.The road trip part of the film is extremely well written and moves at a reasonable pace. The Marry-a-Canadian part is just plain weird but luckily they don't spend much time in Winnipeg. And the best part of this film is that it actually has a resolution. I highly recommend "Blue State" to all the John Logues out there.

totalofseven The summary for this movie sounded promising. Immediately following the two consecutive Bush elections there was, indeed-- if the media is to be believed-- somewhat of an exodus of Democrats heading north. Whether these "disgruntled Democrats" were political activists, or just scared, is beside the point. It's a story that I think begged to be told.I'm an American citizen who has lived in Canada many years. I would advise the writer/director, if he is to succeed in any way, shape or form, in depicting characters beyond his borders, that he do some research. If he had used such shameless stereotypes in portraying Indian or Chinese citizens he would have been a laughing stock, if not blacklisted. I thought "Knocked Up" set the bar in that regard in the last couple of years, but Blue State wins the award. I've never seen so many ridiculous stereotypes utilized in the space of nearly two painful hours. This movie didn't just stumble into the indignity, it took every opportunity to embrace it. For what? To make their American characters look good and reasoned and noble? As an American, I was thoroughly embarrassed.This movie was outright offensive to Canadians and informed Americans; in particular, *real* political activists who wouldn't have succumbed to a pretty face, but may have had a more serious agenda in mind. I would have liked to see a much more thoughtful exploration of the lead characters, living at a time of great political conflict, in a more realistic setting, not this backwards gong show disguised as a politically aware love story. To be perfectly frank, this movie is a perfect example of why Americans have such a hard time endearing themselves to people outside their borders. It is self-serving, ill-informed, arrogant crap. It may have tried to depict the characters returning home as a result of their own political/emotional conflicts, but it ended up looking like a narrow escape from a life in the circus, i.e. Canada.The writer/director completely missed the mark, here. And may have offended a few million people in the process. Not that a few million would have even bothered to see this movie. I certainly hope not.

KelseyRM I found this film to be quite charming and enjoyable, despite its many faults. When the film started, I was a bit skeptical of using a road trip fueled by political issues as a backdrop for a romantic comedy. However, the superb acting of Breckin Meyer and Anna Paquin caught my eye and kept me intrigued throughout the film.As the plot continued to get more far-fetched, it became more and more obvious that this film was not realistic by any means. I was particularly put off when Meyer's character chooses to stay with the Marry A Canadian organization for more than five minutes. I almost stopped watching when he stayed in the same room with the 50 year old woman. Luckily, the two finally do leave the crazy group in Winnipeg, only about twenty minutes too late in the film. I would recommended fast forwarding through those awkward moments and watching again after the two take off holding an American "terrorist" at gunpoint. After this the plot continues to take some obvious and poorly written turns, but fortunately Meyer and Paquin remain believable and likable throughout the film.When their journey begins, the two awkwardly get to know each other through forced questions due to the fact that they were spending hours alone together in a car. As more gets revealed about each of the characters, it become obvious

JonathanWalford I really wanted to like this film -- it is a great idea! However, the comic undertones of the film quickly gave way to a downbeat drama and the portrayal of one of the most dysfunctional families ever seen on film.My enjoyment of the movie dwindled as the film went on and on and on. It wasn't really the acting (at least not of the main characters), or even the directing, but rather the writing that was at fault. The script is heavy handed and unbelievable.On top of this, the writer should have at least visited Canada, or checked out some facts about the country before writing so egregiously. The movie makes it look like Winnipeg is a day's drive from Washington state; Canada border guards do not ask Americans to see their passports at the border - they ask for identification (Social Security number, driver's license, etc.); Winnipeg does not enjoy Chinooks (where weather changes 30 degrees in a day) that's Calgary; By 2004 when this film takes place you would have a hard time finding any Canadian boasting of universal health care; and you really don't hear that tall poppy story up here -- that is a story Americans use to describe Canadians, not a story Canadians use to describe themselves.Overall, this was a missed opportunity for a very funny, poignant and timely film that really missed its mark. The plot was good, the main actors good, but the actual writing was very clumsy.