Held Up (2010) Reviews

• The Comedic Timing Here is Genius

  user-33-1604342011-04-21

  I laughed throughout. Non-stop. This is really a stylish ensemble packed to the rafters with laughables. The comedic timing is genius, there is not a dull moment. Sure ==> there are cheesy moments, the characters could be developed a bit more, the score... well the score was spot on. The score was a perfect mimicry of the scenes: a quaint, goofy eloquence of sorts... And developing the characters any further would be to the detriment of the film. The cheesy moments were perfectly timed. This is COMEDY. There's not much I'd criticize here. I throughly enjoyed this one. It was a brilliant display of wit. I love to smile and this did not disappoint. I smiled from the moment "A Crackle Film" appeared on the screen and Ray (Jon Dore) began his spiel about pigs that could coalesce into "a force with a stench so bad it'd have to be smelled to be believed." That line he delivered with a stolid seriousness... It truly set the stage for some exquisitely laughable moments. And I giggled raucously. I laughed throughout. Non-stop.

• A very funny web series from crackle.com about what ensues when two pairs of bank robbers arrive on the same day.

  dyandel2010-10-13

  This highly amusing series of "webisodes" was written and co-produced by Jason and Randy Sklar, twin comedians who may be best known for their ESPN series "Cheap Seats." The lead character is Ray Pfeiffer, a depressed bank teller & unsuccessful stand-up comic (Jon Dore, a Canadian comedian who had his own show there). Jan, his self-esteem-impaired manager, is Suzy Nakamura (who has had recurring roles on "West Wing" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and most recently as the Principal on "10 Things I Hate About You"). Ray is desperate for something, ANYTHING, to happen at his bank. Dore's derisive comments in front of customers would get him fired in about two minutes in a real bank, but as a sort of audible inner monologue they are quite funny, especially for anyone who has worked in a customer service environment. Nakamura is effective as partly a straight-woman and partly as the deliverer of dry, very dark humor driven by her self-delusion concerning the devotion of her boyfriend, Phil. The Sklars are (as always) a lot of fun with their shticky, neurotic banter. Their contributions to a list of demands are especially amusing. An obvious comparison would be to a pair of less whiny and far less intellectually ambitious/pretentious very early Woody Allens. There are also several running gags about Twitter, local TV news, and the financial woes of government in California. Cyrus Farmer is solid as the most serious of the bank robbers but doesn't have much comedic material to work with. Among a number of funny minor characters, Steve Agee and Tig Notaro (both from "The Sarah Silverman Program") give scene-stealing turns in small roles. The real gem here is a sharp, biting performance by Kaitlin Olson, who puts the perfect comic timing and delivery she developed as Becky (Cheryl's sister) on "Curb Your Enthusiasm" and refined as Dee on "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" to outstanding use here. There is a significant amount of crude language and there are several crude sexual references.

• Eh, funny

  MichaelOzer2011-03-16

  I love Jon Dore, so I had to watch this movie. At first it seemed dumb and a waste of my time, but I decided why not. In the end I am glad that I watched the movie. Having so many popular comedians just made this movie a hilarious. I recommend this movie to anyone who enjoys comedy. So if you don't enjoy comedy stop watching comedic movies and rating them low... Jon Dore is amazing! The Sklar twins are amazing. Kaitlin Olson is pretty funny. Cyrus Farmer did a bad job at acting. Samm Levine was not a likable character at all. Steve Agee just made the simple parts extravagant!

• Crap!

  amarco1122011-03-06

  I was really disappointed this movie. I wish i could get my money back. It was so painful i couldn't watch more than 30 minutes. I'm not sure if it was the bad storyline or the bad acting but i feel violated for watching it. I didn't think it was funny at all. I think it's the worst movie i've seen in a long time. All i can say is it's crap. How can a movie like this make it into redbox. Redbox you should be ashamed. The whole cop thing with the budget cuts...really??? And they let them hold up in a bank for a week...come on... a week. Seriously. And the lead actor, he tried to be funny but just wasn't. I went in with high expectations and was let down. I looks like it went straight to video and skipped the theaters. That's no surprise.

• Held Up? Smelled Up!

  robindavies2012-03-05

  This movie came on my cable movie channel and I put it on mistakenly believing that I was going to see 30 Minutes or Less, which, in itself I doubt is high brow humour, but at least that film probably contains some laughs. While I can't say that I made it longer than 15 minutes into this movie, there was absolutely nothing funny on the horizon when I did throw in the towel so I think 15 minutes was enough to give me the big picture. What I did see in 15 minutes was terrible acting, writing, and painfully unfunny jokes. If the-thing-I-was-watching (I refuse to call this a movie actually) suddenly improved dramatically after 15 minutes, as some have claimed, then perhaps the writers can learn a thing or two about pacing, but from the level of humour on display in what I did see, I would have to say that I find that hard to believe. Simply awful sets the bar about right.