Flakes the movie
August 28, 2008
What a fun movie! It is especially fun for New Orleans locals, like me, who are familiar with Frenchmen Street where it was filmed. Even iconic local, Amzie Adams of "All Amzie All the Time" art gallery on Royal St. in the French Quarter (the guy in the white beard and black hat for non-locals), artist and musician, makes appearances in this little gem and in the trailer and out-takes. Frenchmen street is the home of the two top rated jazz clubs for 2008 in New Orleans, but it is fun to see the "Faubourg Marigny Book Store" and the former dance club "Brazil Cafe" redone and used as cereal bars. What really surprised me is that the plot was interesting as well.
"Like We're In Church Right Now" ~ Cereal And Religion
(3 of 3 Found this Helpful)
August 2, 2008
Think of the film `Flakes' (`07) as an undated, more hip version of the now defunct but still popular, long running television series `Cheers' only with a vast and varied cereal menu rather than alcoholic beverages. Join store manager Neil Downs (Aaron Stanford) girlfriend Pussy Katz (Zooey Deschanel), owner Willie (Christopher Lloyd) and a zany group of New Orleans residents as they gather daily for a bowl of their favorite cereal.
The shop is but a launching pad for a pithy, intelligent, romantic comedy, coming of age storyline that I enjoyed immensely. `Flakes' only shortcoming is the finish. Which isn't necessarily bad, but I just don't think it quite lives up to what presided it.
This one will stand up well to repeat viewings, which ultimately is the supreme test for any film. Enjoy!
Zooey helps a West Side Santa Cruz theme...
July 7, 2008
Michael Lehmann (40 Days/40 Nights, Because I Said So) helmed this sitcom-feel film about 30-somethings working in cereal bars, their dysfunctional relationships and hapless aspirations to do "something" in life.
Zooey is the only saving point in this film, but it had such a Santa Cruz feel to it with the buildings, the laid-back feel, corporate franchise vs. independent store front, bizarre customers (including one life dropout horribly played by Christopher Lloyd) - I couldn't help but feel a little attached to it. Plus a cereal bar just opened here in this County and some of the options and ideas filmed are identical to the franchises that are apparently succeeding.
The filming quality has that low budget quasi-Lifetime feel to it and the chances for ZD to have another great character get trampled upon slowly as the film builds, then she crashes miserably in the end. The core characters love story seems unbelievable, especially once they work at competing stores, then together, then fired by one over the other. SPOILER - The end point of lawsuits fixing everything in your financial & personal life just didn't feel right for this type of film, it appeared to become more about that than the love story. Sort of a mix of Coupling, Friends and a little Clerks.
ZD has six other films in production so I consider this a filler piece for her until Yes Man and Gigantic come out.
Delightful
(5 of 7 Found this Helpful)
May 10, 2008
"High Fidelity" meets "Clerks" over a bowl of cereal in this fun little film that rises above its humble subject. I just love the outlandish central conceit of a vintage cereal restaurant, in which the cereal becomes a metaphor for our youthful, untarnished, and yet dysfunctional selves. With a witty, intelligent screenplay and a seriously good cast, it starts out incredibly strong and as quirky as they come (in a good way). I only gave four stars because for me the second half of the film lost its unique flavor and became more of a cliche, but I still think it rocks.
