The story of a terminally ill man who doesn't want to go through the worst parts of the disease so he decides to end it. However, nothing quite goes to plan. Dom DeLuise's mentally unstable character goes a long way to saving this for me. He offers the most laughs when many others fall flat. I love black comedies, but this isn't written well enough to be noteworthy. 2.5-2/5.
This is tagged as a comedy, but it's fairly depressing and annoying for the most part, particularly any scene Anne Bancroft is a part of. Coming from the same nationality as the main character, I relate to the ridiculous value stuffing your face plays in Italian culture. There is a lot of shouting, and you just see a character struggling with trying to stop eating, surrounded by a surreal fairy-tale-like love at first sight romance.
I'm giving this a decent 3/5, but this movie has some major issues. The first is with Jon Seda's terminally ill character. I get that he may have had a rough upbringing, but Jesus Christ, there is nothing redeeming about the character. He is such an annoying fu** that he has to be one of the most infuriating main characters put on film. As the film progresses, his condition worsens, but one moment he is hemorrhaging and fainting, then a moment later he can climb a cliff, then he can't even move, then moments later he is sprinting again... The other major issue I had with this was that no matter how empathetic someone can be, would you warm to someone as much as Woody Harrelson's character does with someone who has been holding a gun to your penis for three days and who would've killed you if a bullet was in the chamber? But maybe I am too unforgiving...
In saying all of that, it does feel like a different kind of film, and not the cookie-cutter material so often fed to us. Although the ending is somewhat weak, the adventure the two go on did maintain my interest for the most part. 3-2.5 / 5
I've checked this out, and I will his follow-up album as well, due to the fantastic recent duet with Chrisette Michele, 'No Greater Love'. This begins quite poorly with an attempt at an upbeat R&B jam that sounds cheaply produced. It's a product of its time, sounding like a non-AAA R&B song from the early '00s. It gets a little better but never reaches anything noteworthy until 'Sweetest Sacrifice' at track 6 that begins an enjoyable run of tracks. 'Love Song' and the title track are songs in the second tier here, but the tracks below are the standouts. 3-2.5 / 5.
Best Tracks: Sweetest Sacrifice, Don't Say Goodbye
