Cissy Évelyne It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

Billy Ollie Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

Cristal The movie really just wants to entertain people.

dromasca It is probably better sometimes to see a film after the buzz is over in order to appreciate it - its good as well as its weakest parts. The break-through film of Alma Harel was very much talked about when it was released a couple of years ago. I have seen it only now and I can probably better enjoy its best parts, as well as wonder about other without necessarily being influenced by the chorus of praise (some justified) which accompanied its release.The landscape seems to belong to a post-apocalyptic film. On the deserted shores of a sea that was born by an accident a small community of people deprived of almost everything tries to survive. Yet this is not the planet after an atomic war, and this is not the Sea of Aral either, but a real landscape and real people in the state of California, in a place located at measurable distances from all the services available in one of the most sophisticated states of the USA. The destinies of several people are being followed in parallel. A boy with behavioral problems whose parents went to jail are may be in danger of being denied parenthood if they get in any kind of more trouble. A teenager who was born and raised in the violent suburbs of a big city and has seen death and violence, and came here in the search of the right path for overcoming his social condition. An old man who survived a life of working in the oil fields but never abandoned his passion for booze, smoking, women. All the stories are human and credible and real. This may look like art fiction, but is actually a documentary of a special kind.The art dimension of the film is provided by the each of the characters dancing at some point in time. Each of the dancing episodes is so well integrated in the whole movie that it looks quite natural. Dancing may not be part of their real life, but Alama Harel made it look like it is. Yet here comes also the problematic aspect of the film. We get a glimpse of life in one very extreme area of today's America, with its people. It's real life and yet there is some manipulation here, because there was a cameraman (maybe the director herself) some place to catch what looks like pieces of truth. It's beautiful but I could not escape a feeling of artificiality. Yet Alma Arel is certainly a film-maker to follow, Let us see what subjects she will pick next.

morrison-dylan-fan Searching round online for any Bob Dylan news,I was surprise to recently to discover that Dylan had contributed 2 songs for a low budget documentary.With having a family friend about to pay a visit during the run up to Christmas,I was happy to see that the documentary had been brought out on DVD,which would allow everyone to pay a quick visit to Bombay Beach.The outline of the film:Film maker Alma Har'el goes to a poor, census-designated-place in Imperial County,California called Bombay Beach,that has a population of just under 300 people.Deciding to focus on three distinct residence of Bombay:the first one being an old man called Red,who despite recently suffering from ill health,continues to travel to a drug store based out of Bombay Beach,so that he can buy cigarette's which he can sell at a few pence more than he paid for them,at the trailer park that he lives in.The second person who Alma looks at is a young man called CeeJay Thompson,who after being sent to Bombay Beach by a relative who was fearing that he may get involved in gangs,is shocked to find paradise at Bombay,where along with becoming the star player in the high school's football team,Thompson also begins to fall in love with one of the schools cheerleader's.For the third person,Har'el focuses on the family of 7 year old Benny Parrish,who along with having bright dreams of being a firemen in the future,is also having to make long journeys out with his parents to medical facility,due to suffering from a bi-polar disorder.View on the film:Working closely with dance and stage choreography Paula Present,director Alma Har'el intercepts the three threads of the movie with surreal dance and stage pieces,that go from Ceejay and his girlfriend having a dance off,to the film jumping 20 years to show Benny as a firemen.Whilst this does make the documentary more openly "staged" than most,Har'el cleverly uses " the fantasy severance's" to build up a strong,dusty,ambient wasteland mood that erupts at the precise moment Alma unleashes any of the two (written just for this movie) smooth Dylan tracks on the soundtrack.Basting the film in Bombay Beach,Alma opens the movie with archival promotional Video footage from the building of Bombay Beach,where people were being told to buy property there so that they could have a piece of "the American dream".Jumping to the modern day,run day wasteland of the place,Har'el smartly shows,that no matter how much the American dream is pushed to the edge of the cliff,there are still people who are trying to find their part of the dream,in the suburb of Bombay.

ell1981 Very well made and innovative docu drama. Most important to all films of this genre, the subject is utterly fascinating and contains people with genuine quirkiness and character. The story and the people are captured in a unique and compelling way too which adds to its wonder. Rightly acknowledges and thanks the great Werner Herzog in the credits as his ability to look beyond characters and create drama through them has clearly influenced the feel of this film. Thoroughly enjoyable throughout. I wish it had received more coverage and will hopefully get Oscar acclaim this year if submitted. A real gem and very much worth watching.

djdavig If you have a creative bone in your body then see this film. I took a chance and was astounded at how good this work of art is. Everything Gummo was not this beauty is. The subjects are interesting enough on their own but the subject matter and characters are not the center piece but how she creates astounding scenes using the subjects in creative ways to weave a larger story just blew me away. A little boy struggling with the effects of multiple behavioral medications suddenly falls into a dreamlike trance and becomes a fireman riding a giant fire truck. A little boy and girl act out going on a date before dumping water all over each other in hilarious laughter. Two teenagers in love suddenly put on theatrical masks and dance together in slow and sensual synchronization. One minute an old man is comatose and near death on a gurney in the ER and the next he is racing in the desert on his ATV, which I think actually happened. It is the juxtaposition of the stark reality of their poverty and problems with their dreams that so pleasantly surprises. As great as the writing and editing is the sum total of the parts work together to create a film that takes you on a magical mystery tour through this desert community near the Salton Sea. Simply phenomenal and hopefully the first of many.