Justin's Rating: Why I Dislike Cats: They're Evil
Justin's Review: Memo to Katie Holmes: What is your problem? Are you so sick of looking like the cute innocent next-door girl that you need to be a sourpuss in every movie you've been in lately? In Disturbing Behavoir it appeard like you were being forced to act against your will. Are you mildly constipated? Having female troubles? Going through puberty? What is it?

Fortunately, to bail Katie out is Sarah Polley, one of the best new faces of acting. Sarah plays Ronna, a store clerk who is willing to do (nearly) anything to make money to avoid getting evicted. This involves entering the drug dealing industry, which seems like a fairly easy thing to do, seeing as how the drug community are not typical members of MENSA. Her story is crossed with Simon, a British co-worker to takes off for a hedonistic spree in Vegas. His story is complicated by those of Gay Guy #1 and Gay Guy #2, actors who are coerced by the police into helping a drug bust. Basically, it's a movie where they filmmakers want you to notice how clever they're being in tying all these plot lines together. But, actually, it's not too bad, not bad at all.

While the Simon and Gay Guys stories are interesting, by far and away I enjoyed the one with Ronna. The supermarket scenes, brief as they are, were funny and deserving of their own film. Why not? Great sequel potential. Two scene-stealers were Mannie (Nathan Bexton), who gets tripped out on acid and at one point tangos the macarena in the supermarket; and Todd "The Good Drug Dealer" Gains (Timothy Olyphant) who just chews up his lines like there was no sarcastic tomorrow.

While Go tries really hard to be an edgy, dark comedy, it fails and becomes something much better - the rare "funny" comedy, with parts that'll have you snorting your product placement brand Coke with laughter. Sure, it's a little uneven, but some of the long set-ups for jokes are well worth the endurance. Seeing a black cat talk in subtitles to someone on drugs just made this film for me.

It's been noted that every review of Go has mentioned a certain pop culture reference-spewing filmmaker, and I'd like you to note that I've gone this entire review without saying his name. Just goes to show that maybe I think this film is a little more enjoyable than such punchy trash. Maybe.

PoolMan's Rating: Have drugs, guns, gambling, raving techno, and cute chicks, will travel!
PoolMan's Review: Hmmm... Tricky. How does one go about reviewing something like this? I mean, it's got so much going for it; interesting characters, an intertwining story, cool techno (not the crappy kind), and some messed up humour that'll spin your nipple nuts. (I had to fill out 3 forms for Justin to use the phrase "nipple nuts" in my review. I hope you're happy. Oh crap, I used it twice. Pass the papers...) And yet, I felt strangely guilty for the experience, even though I immensely enjoyed it.

Therefore, I must diverge with my good Head Mutant's opinion... I don't think Go set out to be a comedy. I mean, the humour's there, and it's funny, but I remember being frequently reminded of Trainspotting (the brit went a long way to help that). There's all kind of really dark stuff going on in these kids' drug-laden world, and more often then not my laughter was kind of nervous, as though owning up to laughing at the guy having sex in the room with two girls while it's on fire makes me a bad person. Probably does.

I noticed the mood really changes from start to finish, too. I mean, the Ronna story is so dark and edgy, you start getting scared that Todd's going to catch on to her little plan, and by the end of the first act, you freak out. By the end of the Adam and Zack story, you've got a naked cop apparently propositioning a pair of gay actors. Wierd how it all flips around, and it took a little away from the consistency, even though I enjoyed each act on its own. Speaking of the different acts, I felt the strangest urge to watch Run Lola Run again. I don't mean to take away from Go, but Lola worked a lot better as a "time travelling".

Go seemed to shoot for art house film, dark comedy, and action all at the same time. While it didn't really achieve any of these to maximum levels, it went a good distance on all of them, and reminded me of two classic movies without feeling like a ripoff. Try it with the lights off. Not to scare you, but just to get yourself in the mood.

Didja Notice?
The cat's name is Princess Leah Lucky Buttons
Xerxes
How many times they use the word "go" in different situations
Tantra sex - where do you take classes for this sort of thing?
Sarah Polley wins first prize in the Uma Thurman lookalike contest, yet she's still attractive!

The Movie Store!
Go: Movie [VHS]
Go: Movie [DVD]
Go: Soundtrack [CD]
Go: The Poster [1]

Intermission!
Writer John August had originally intended "Go" to be a short film. The original screenplay was made up basically of the "Ronna" part of the script. The other two sections were added to explain why Simon went to Las Vegas and who Adam & Zack are.

Groovy Quotes:

Claire: Gay men are so hot. It's tragic.

Tiny: Yo, I told you, my mother's mother's mother was black!
Marcus: Man, if you were any less black you'd be clear.

Todd: [about the Family Circus] And it's always there, in the lower right hand corner, just waiting to suck.

Simon: He's a good guy.
Marcus: Oh, he's the good drug dealer!

Zack: It really didn't go as bad as it could have.
Adam: A girl is dead, Zack.
Zack: I didn't say it went perfectly.

If you liked this movie, try these:
Pulp Fiction
Four Rooms
Can't Hardly Wait
Trainspotting
Run Lola Run

DVD Review:
Justin: Sleek, yet somehow unimpressive menus abound on this DVD, but that's about the biggest criticism I can give it. Both Widescreen and Fullscreen formats are offered for the movie, so pick your favorite. I haven't listened to the Director and Editor's commentary yet, but it's there. 3 music videos are great additions to this music-laden movie ("New" by No Doubt, "Magic Carpet Ride", and "Steal My Sunshine" by Len). Other extras include the trailer, a "making of" featurette, typical cast and crew info, but where this DVD really shines is through the addition of 14 deleted scenes. A nice package, doesn't exactly thrill me to the core, but nice anyway.

Soundtrack Review: [Justin] A nice selection of pop hits, including Len, Fatboy Slim, Natalie Imbrugula, No Doubt, and others. Definitely not the "one good hit and 15 stinkers" movie compilation. [PoolMan] Thank the gods, the music hear is really cool. This is techno done appropriately and right, and this is a soundtrack that races along with the onscreen. Kudos to laying out a soundtrack with some legs.