Movie Info:
Writer: Eric Steven Stahl, Sean McLain
Director: Eric Steven Stahl
Cast: Beau Bridges, Rosanna Arquette, Mathew Botuchis, Shiri Appleby, Dan Castellaneta, Baelyn Neff, Victor Alfieri
Rating: Unrated
Studio: Warner Bros
Release Info:
Original Air Dates: Direct to DVD
DVD Release Date: September 16, 2008
Online Availability: Amazon for
One of the easiest things in the world to do is to mock reality television. Everyone knows that it’s only as real as the directors and editors want it to be. Sure, it may (or may not, depending on the case) be unscripted, but that’s about it. It’s always baffled me that reality television is so popular when you consider this fact. I mean, there are much better fictional shows on television. Considering that reality television is often poorly made and contains some fiction, you might as well watch the good stuff. Either way, the idea doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon.
It’s bad enough to have networks full of reality television, but to have movies attempt to be funny by mocking something that obviously isn’t real anyway, things go from bad to worse. There are at least two or three recognizable names in here, which could cause you to hope for the best. I know that’s what it made me do. I’m telling you now there is no cause for hope. Abandon ship while you can because this is so not worth your time it’s not even funny.
Once upon a time Beau Bridges and Roseanna Arquette starred in some pretty good movies. How they got caught up in this mess of a film I will never know. They play parents, which could be believable, but isn’t very exciting when it comes to this flick. Maybe it’s just the bad idea that I cannot get over, but I See You.com seems filled with absolutely no hope to succeed.
I usually try to find at least one positive in every film that I review. I have looked here for one and I just cannot find it. The acting is subpar. The script and writing are atrocious. The idea is stupid. The direction doesn’t hit the mark. If they were looking for a way to waste a bunch of money creating a flop then they succeeded. Otherwise, there was absolutely no point to this movie ever being made.
The I See You.Com Plot
Colby just wants to make his family’s situation in life better. Things aren’t going well in their household thanks to a strained economy that most of us can relate to. However, Colby has a plan. He is going to plant a camera in his sister’s room where she won’t know it’s there and then create a website where people can watch her day and night. Good plan right? I didn’t think so either.
For whatever reason, the site becomes a smash hit, which prompts Colby to put up cameras in the entire house. As you would expect, eventually the family does find out. Sure, they are a little bit mad, but when they see how much money is in it they decide to go along with the plan.
Unfortunately, the family seems to think that unfunny behavior and strange sexual antics are the way to get visitors to their site. Instead what it does is turn them all greedy and obsessed about it and ends up driving a wedge through the family unit.
Due to lack of stable plot, I cannot say anything else or I might give away all the big moments of the film. Not that there are any, but if you’re going to watch it I should leave something to the imagination.
Reality television isn’t real, though it is better than this unfunny, farcical tale about a family willing to pimp themselves out on the Internet to make a quick buck. If it had been funny that would have been one thing, but the writing was stale and the comic timing was shut off. It proved to be a complete and utter waste of time.
Storyline/Plot: 




Replayability: 




Acting: 




Directing: 




Audio/Visual:
The specs for this movie are pretty promising with a 1.85:1 aspect ratio and anamorphic widescreen, but the actual picture is not much to brag about. The colors are decent enough and there isn’t too much noise or dirt, but the overall quality is not anything special. It works just fine, but it’s the bare minimum of the specs and nothing more.
The audio was a much nicer presentation. Set with Dolby Digital 5.1 the sound was dynamic when possible and consistent throughout. There were no issues with static. No volume toggling was necessary. It was exactly the type of audio that you would expect from a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack. In addition to the main audio there are English and Spanish subtitles.
Visual: 




Audio: 




Bonus Features:
I See You.Com offers a couple of bonus features, though there is nothing here worth going out of your way to watch them. There is a digital copy of the film, though with the film being as bad as it is, I can’t see why anyone would want to carry it around in digital form. There are trailers for a couple of movies, including I See You.Com. There is a small, five minute collection of additional/deleted scenes, but again, if the movie isn’t worth watching, the deleted scenes don’t fair too well either. Finally, you can watch a Making of featurette that lasts for just under twenty minutes. The cast and crew are interviewed and the discussion often turns to the script and the film for obvious reasons. As you can see, there isn’t much to see here.
Bonus Features: 




Bottom Line:
I cannot in good conscious recommend this movie for anything. I don’t recommend buying it or even renting it. It was a waste of time to even watch it. The movie was predictable, pointless, and torturous to watch. The nicest thing that I can say is that I am glad that it is over.
Overall Rating: 




Technorati Tags: DVD Review, Beau Bridges, Rosanna Arquette, Mathew Botuchis, Shiri Appleby, Dan Castellaneta, Baelyn Neff, Victor Alfieri, Warner Bros
