I enjoyed this despite it's goofy characteristics at times. Some overacting and nonsensical character actions (for better realism or worse). A great little character piece with a not so happy ending. A fantastic Nic Cage cameo worth watching for alone.

One of my favorite Nicholas Cage performances.

Great acting by Franco!

The movie lost me the moment Nicolas Cage (the film's director) shows up....being Nicolas Cage.

Well this was incredibly disappointing. It seems like it should have had quite a bit going for it: Nic Cage directing, James Franco starring and New Orleans as the setting. But really, it seems that Nic Cage can't direct, Franco gives a pretty restrained performance in this and New Orleans is barely shown at all in the movie, and when it is, it doesn't do much to add to the atmosphere. The story is lame, I didn't care about any of the characters, and it just felt all-around vacant, like there was nothing here that really wanted you to get invested in the movie. The only reason I'm rating it so high is for Nic Cage's cameo, and that's only a few minutes long out of this almost 2 hour long movie (it really didn't need to be that long, that was another problem). Anyway, Nic Cage plays this rich coke-fueled pimp dressed in a hideous yellow suit, and for the couple minutes he's on screen, that's the high point of the movie. And even that was one of his more forgettable characters. So yeah, I can't really recommend this to anyone. Not to Cage fans, not to Franco fans, not to fans of seeing New Orleans in cinema...it's just an overall dud.

Good acting by James Franco, but sordid and depressing story. Even Brenda Blethyn wasn't good in this one, and she usually rises above her material. At least the ending wasn't terrible, but Nick Cage's direction was. He should have remembered his own roles better.

Yes, it's terrible, a bad film. It's funny though, it's often unintentionally funny and sometimes it's clearly supposed to be but it's a relatively enjoyable experience if you allow yourself to mock every aspect of it and avoid it's attempts at trying to be a real movie. The script is terrible- I can almost see why Cage worked on this movie- it's got some similarities to some of Cage's older stuff, Wild At Heart for example and a few others but they aren't particularly good movies, they tend to be undercooked and generally ambitious failures. They have potential though but this one is too ridiculous to have any real chance at being good, or even average. I sense a lot of Rumble Fish in this one with Franco's similarities to Dillon but Rumble Fish is pretty interesting and has some great performances- this does not. There's not much to say about Cage's directing- if his aim was to bring out great performances then he failed, if he was aiming to make it look stylish then its acceptable but nothing special, maybe he was aiming for something intentionally ridiculous and funny. (that sounds like a long shot but it's really not- the best performance in this movie is his five minute cameo as a coke-addicted pimp and it's absolutely ridiculously beautiful in all it's glory) Even if that is what he was going for though, the performances don't reflect that (Blethyn does and Stanton does a great job at bringing some seriousness to the table without ever seeming to take himself too seriously) but Franco is deadly serious and it's pretty laughable, I don't mean to bully him- he has done some good work but this reminds me of his poem: a deeply serious portrayal of something that's utterly ridiculous. I fear Franco just doesn't have the warning in his head that tells him when something sucks basically. I dunno, he's probably not a bad guy and his acting is technically good but in this case it's overly-serious and not right for the film at all. (He got a D in acting school, I can say this shit so get off my back fangirls.) Suvari's performance is harder to judge- I think she is closer to the mark of seriousness while capturing the right tone for the film but her character is typecast and limited so there's no real development to judge. The script is the real failure out of everything though, it's simply terrible, the premise is fine and there's some intentionally funny moments and I can see how, if the tone was correct, some of the script would have worked but no, just no. There's some themes that are kind of interesting but they are barely even touched on, you have to make them up for yourself- you have to imagine how the film could have worked and that's not a good sign. Overall this is a failed project- quite the train wreck for everyone involved really and a terrible choice of film for Cage to start directing- I'd be interested to see him working with something good and see what he brings to the mix (I feel like all he did here was the brilliant cameo and telling Franco to break things a lot- which Franco didn't do very well). It's just a disappointment really- it looks like it'd be worth watching but there's nothing special there.

I tried watching this...really, really bad. Cage should stick to acting -- he's good at it.

This movie is so wierd but good! Very interesting storyline. Nicolas Cage directing is subperb! James Franco played Sonny to the T.

Good job Cage! This was a great movie.

Greatly underrated film, James Franco's best performance. The film is a mix of film noir, southern gothic and Midnight Cowboy. Blethyn's character is an honest portrayal of this type of personality in this disgusting, degrading profession. James Franco shows the Brando and James Dean comparisons easily in this but it is not caricature. The film is a great character study and condemning of prostitution but it shows how society does not give you second chances easily and uses their own fake modesty while oblivious to their own hypocrisy.

an awesome flick one of my faves

its all about prostitutes. it needed that fairytale ending...

-JAMES FRANCO-'s portrayal is so closely matched w/-HEATH LEDGER-'s depth in "Brokeback Mountain"!!...

An interesting film with a very original concept! Nic Cages behing the camera is doing quite a good job. The cast deliver strong performances and it's all nicely put together even though this film is probably one of the most unusual i have ever seen coming from Holywood.

I like Nicolas Cage, honestly...for the most part. So, when I heard he directed a film starring James Franco as a male hustler who tries to get out of the life, I figured, "hey, this might be a good, gritty, indie drama". Well, it's not. It's sometimes sleazy and gritty, but it feels undercooked and slightly polished. It's also really draggy asnd boring, which I didn't think was possible. Franco does what he can, and he's okay, but he can't quite save it. Stanton also helps elevate things, but he could have been used a lot more...and better. Suvari was okay, probably the best out of all the ladies here, but even then she's not given much to work with, and her performance isn't all that great. She does have a bit of chemistry with Franco though, and she's nice to look at. Overall, this is a plodding, dull mess. It's also about 20 minutes too long. Avoid.

a good movie. enjoyable.

i came across this movie via netflix and found it to be interesting......liked it even though it did not get a lot of good reviews.

His life was the morning after, until he decided to change the night before...

about to watch it now. oh boy