EssenceStory Well Deserved Praise

Lucybespro It is a performances centric movie

Keeley Coleman The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Frank Lampard I stumbled across this film and did not know what to think. I have to admit I am a historian on this topic, couldn't tell you why, just am. The movie centers around two brothers who have grown up quite differently under the same roof. Turns out one brother was adopted and the other was the natural son of the father. The adopted son (Conrad) was treated poorly and as a result, has developed into somewhat of a hopeless misfit. Conrad also has a very voracious appetite for all things Charles Manson and very much desires to visit all places in the Los Angeles area that have a connection with the Manson family. Conrad also insists that his brother come along for the field trip. As the story develops, not too subtle hints start to occur that Conrad's interest in Manson is more than just that of a groupie. There is some humor to be had here and the southern California sites are pretty dang neat. However, some of the parts of the story strain credibility, seriously. I think having extensive knowledge of information dealing with this story tipped some stuff that regular people would not get. It also caused me to think a lot of the material was very unrealistic. I don't know how to feel about this movie. It was entertaining enough, but I did have problems with the lighthearted approach and levity associated with a loathsome murderer like Manson. I think too many people have diluted his evil, including these filmmakers. Moreover, the character of Conrad was incredibly irritating and lacking in any empathy. I think if you have interest in this topic, you might find it entertaining, but I am not sure why.

Steve Pulaski Nick and Conrad (Jay Duplass and Linas Phillips) grew up under the same roof; Conrad was the child their parents adopted because they couldn't conceive, but then along came Nick after a successful pregnancy. This tension has lived with them throughout their entire lives, as the attention that was absorbed by Conrad, who, no matter which way you want to slice it, was still somewhat of an outsider in his own home, became second to Nick once their parents conceived their very own child.In the present day, Nick has become a prominent family-man with his wife Amanda (Leonora Pitts) and son in their beautiful home, and the thought of his brother Conrad only sporadically crosses his mind. One day, however, Conrad surprises them by showing up at their doorstep with a Charles Manson shirt on and a desire to continually discover more about the famous murderer. Conrad's fascination with Manson stems from Manson's emphasis on family, despite being an outsider. Manson helped gather a group of people together that were rejected from society and made each of them feel loved and welcome, all while encouraging ideas of love and forgiveness, but also incorruptible unity and togetherness at all times.Being that Conrad has chosen to reject all conventional American sentiments and live life by way of cross-country hitchhiking, his unannounced arrival at Nick's house is an effort to initiate some brotherly bonding before Conrad goes off to work at a job in Death Valley. This kind of bonding involves both men sneaking around and breaking into the famous home where the Tate/LaBianca murders occurred decades ago, in addition to attending a party where all the guests are Charles Manson loyalists.J. Davis's Manson Family Vacation, another line in decidedly small-scales movies put out by Duplass Brothers Production, run by both Jay and Mark, takes the oldest trick in comedic filmmaking (two vastly different personalities) and uses it as the thesis for a film that deals with an outsider's obsession with a murderer. Conrad is so fascinated and gripped by Manson's politics and life story that he almost entirely forgets - and even makes an effort to conceal, in the manner of a conspiracy theorist - the fact that Manson, regardless of anything he said or believed, was a murderer. This fact greatly disturbs Nick, who is so far out of his element when it comes time to sneak into the Tate/LaBianca home that he might as well be thrust onto a different planet.This is a film that's almost unclassifiable in terms of its genre. It blends deadpan, mumblecore-style comedy with slowburn tension and horror in a way that has the two meshing together so nicely that when you're supposed to laugh or fear isn't readily dictated by the events of the film. Manson Family Vacation is also not brazenly funny enough to be a black comedy, nor consistently unsettling to be a horror film. Writer/director Davis, who has worked with the Duplass brothers before, exquisitely conducts this film like as an act of genre revisionism that's rarely seen, especially in such a smooth and seamless manner.Largely predicated on the relationship between the two men in the film and the two aforementioned moments of their brotherly bonding that take a turn for the worse, Manson Family Vacation is more-or-less a filmed idea than a conventional film, given how few events take place and how little the characters seem to develop. Nonetheless, there's a lovely quietness to this film and a true desire to profile the characters as they are, and the way Davis does that, while crafting a story that burns as slowly as an unpuffed cigarette, despite a very concise eighty-four minute runtime, is something that's difficult to ignore.Starring: Jay Duplass, Linas Phillips, and Leonora Pitts. Directed by: J. Davis.

moonspinner55 Meager-budgeted production feels as cheap as the premise: two brothers, estranged and at odds over numerous family incidents, reunite but are unable to find a common ground. Jay Duplass, as family man Nick, and Linas Phillips, as eternal screw-up Conrad, are like the two squabbling buddies from the Sonic TV commercials, only more dissimilar; they don't even talk in the same rhythm. The film's title (which was probably 'sensational' enough to interest investors) comes from Conrad's obsession with convict Charles Manson, his followers and their crimes of the late-'60s ("Look at his women!" Conrad says to his brother. "Hot!"). Written and directed by J. Davis, this rude, in-your-face movie takes no stand in present-day correctness (never mind factual correctness); it doesn't wish to shock, it doesn't hope to provoke a discussion, it just wants to be a slob-comedy skirting the edges of a provocative subject. Since it fails as both a character portrait and as a modern-day comedy about brothers, Davis and his cast simply look desperate. They're treading water in sensitive territory--and floundering. NO STARS from ****

rayandbarb23 just walked out of opening night at Brooklyn Film Festival and this movie is fantastic. Its a simple but compelling story of two brothers who have drifted apart and the the twists and turns of life that bring them back in contact with each other. Nobody does the angst of relationships better then Team Duplass and obviously the director has absorbed the same sort of off-kilter spin they put on day to day foibles. I've Been a big fan of all the guys who made this for a few years but wow did they deliver. The director, Jay Davies, who also wrote the screenplay shows his chops and pulls great performances out of his cast The two stars of the film, Linus Phillips and Jay Duplass should absolutely win an MTV Movie Award for Best Couple. Also impressed with the editing of Nick Sherman but I'm a geek for technical stuff. a truly fantastic work -going back tomorrow night to watch it again