Stevecorp Don't listen to the negative reviews

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Aedonerre I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

BrentAMG On screen, Larry David's luck sucks, this is clear. If you have seen HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm you are privy to this idea. In "Curb," as many fans call it (myself being one of them), Larry David plays himself. He is a grade-A jerk whom most people can identify with in some way. At the very least, people admire some of the qualities he possesses, such as his unabashed honesty. From what I understand, David is not characterizing himself that much. He really is kind of an off-putting person. But does he really have bad luck? I mean, there is no way a successful writer/ actor has that much bad luck. That is what I thought, at least, until I saw Clear History where David, again, plays a person much like himself who has a knack to get stuck in unfortunate events.Clear History is a story of a disgraced former marketing guru, Nathan, (David) who plots to get revenge on his boss, Will (Jon Hamm). Nathan owns a 10 percent share in an electric car company. When Will reveals the name of the car to be "Howard," Nathan protests that he cannot market that name. Being the bull-headed individual that he (and apparently real Larry David) is, he offers Will an ultimatum of changing the name of the vehicle or selling back his ten percent stake. Will buys back the shares. Soon after, Nathan's wife (soon to be ex-wife) tells him to go get his shares back. Unfortunately for Nathan, Will refuses. In the not-so-distant future, the "Howard" takes off and Nathan's ten percent stake became worth $1 billion. The media catches word of the partner who dipped right before the break-through and look to interview him. In typical "Davidian" fashion, Nathan humiliates himself on national television. The disgrace ruins his marriage (David can't keep a wife) and forces him to change his name and go into solitude.Nathan finds peace on an island from Southern California. That is, until Will and his wife (Kate Hudson) begin building a massive house in his neighborhood. Will does not recognize Nathan because he is no longer bearded (like above) but looks like classic Larry David. Also, his name is now Rolly. Rolly recalls his former hate for Will and decides to get back at him… by blowing up his house. It is the journey to this event, where we meet familiar faces.Rolly does not know the first thing about blowing up a house so his best friend Frank (Danny McBride) introduces him to some regular crack-pots, Rags and Joe Stumpo (Bill Hader and Michael Keaton), who go into cahoots together. For a moment, Rolly believes that Will's wife, Rhonda, has a hidden desire for him. He switches his plan to stealing Will's wife. When this does not pan out, the initial plan is reenacted until Rolly finds out that Will has been looking for him for the past ten years. Why else does Will want to find Rolly, aka Nathan, but to repay him for the wrong he did him ten years ago? Oh, and that house he was planning to blow up? For terminally sick kids. Finding out Will's true intentions, Nathan rushes back to the mansion, but it is too late. A bus load of children watch the house explode. Three years later, Nathan, Rags, and Stumpo are released from prison. Nathan decides to go by Rolly indefinitely and becomes a sort-of hero on the island. No one really liked the monstrosity of a house Will had built.Overall, Clear History is worth a watch. However, if they released it on DVD/ Blu-Ray, I would not buy it for my collection. While I enjoy Larry David being Larry David, it can get soporific. If you have seen any of Curb Your Enthusiam, you know David's character in this film. Danny McBride's and Bill Hader's characters, while amusing, were typical performances of the actors. Jon Hamm's performance was unorthodox for him and, consequently, enjoyable. Furthermore, Michael Keaton managed to be entertaining through an offbeat role, as he pulled off in The Other Guys. 6.5/10

kathyb2 Just really unfunny! Stellar and seasoned cast but terrible "script". The acting was just really really bad. Michael Keaton was good,of course. It seems that even the worst script cannot keep him down. Keaton obviously revived his Beetlejuice persona for this performance. He acted with style and believability. I never thought I could see Kate Hudson in a sub par movie, but there she was in all her glory. Terrible script and truly horrible acting.Larry David is his normal annoying bi-polar self. There's no stretch here. He is always the same. It would have been nice to see him actually "act". Larry David always comes in the same old tattered box.

bbrebozo I was initially upset when I heard that Larry David was going to skip another season of Curb Your Enthusiasm to do a made-for-TV move. Well, Clear History is that movie. And it's great. David's decision to take himself and much of his cast out of the familiar Curb Your Enthusiasm environment, and place them into a parody of one of Ayn Rand's best known and most controversial novels, was an excellent one.The casting of this movie is terrific, and each member of the cast has moments of brilliance. For example, check out Kate Hudson's reaction when Larry David kisses her, or Michael Keaton's just-a-slight-hint-of-Beetlejuice performance as a mad bomber. And, of course, J.B. Smoove joins the cast as ... well, I don't know exactly why he's there, except that he continues to demonstrate that he is far and away David's best, most creative improv partner. I'm no actor, but it looks like it takes a special talent to ad lib, particularly through a Larry David comedy. And David has assembled an exceptionally talented group of actors who can roll with his punches and make it look easy and fun to watch.Most of the Ayn Rand parodies I've seen have been ham-fisted and humorless, but Clear History's parody is light, intelligent and entertaining. The idea of Larry David as a comic version of The Fountainhead's Howard Roark really pays off. The parallels between The Fountainhead and Clear History are woven smartly throughout the plot -- and they're humorous. (For those familiar with the book: Think of Jon Hamm and Kate Hudson as Peter Keating and Dominique Francon, when you're watching the movie. Oh, come on: I know Ayn Rand wouldn't approve, but...it's funny!) Whether Larry David's develops season of Curb Your Enthusiasm, another made-for-TV movie, or some other project, I'll be eagerly awaiting his next move.

airfoyle Not everyone is a raving fan of "Curb Your Enthusiasm." The show is often like watching a root- canal procedure as Larry David's character plunges himself into one unnecessary, painfully embarrassing situation after another. There's some of that in "Clear History," but the character has mellowed. You can understand why people like Rolly, the name of the hard-luck case Larry David plays here. He's irascible, but then the other people in his little community are just as irascible and just as quirky; he fits in well. "Clear History" is a farce, a word that I wouldn't exactly apply to "Curb." It's a sequence of disasters based on carefully timed misunderstandings. The scene where Rolly is on the way to stop one such disaster when he has to pause when he encounters two friends who have just been in a motorcycle accident is priceless. He tell the two friends that he just doesn't have time to help them; the two friends are incredulous and angry, but he's actually right! If you were in his situation, you wouldn't help them and you wouldn't be able to explain either. The crush Rolly develops on Kate Hudson's character is also believable and funny, especially the way it (of course) comes crashing down around him.The cast is terrific. Watch for Liev Schreiber in an uncredited role.