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The Independent

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The Independent (2001)

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60 %
Reviews Counted: 48 Fresh: 29  Rotten:19 Average Rating: 6/10

How does the Tomatometer work?

The Tomatometer measures the percentage of positive reviews from Approved Tomatometer Critics for a certain movie.[-]

Runtime: 1 hr 35 mins

Synopsis: Morty Fineman (Jerry Stiller) is an independent schlock film producer-star-director with a problem. He's broke, and he can't finance his new film about a singing serial killer. The bank offers to buy his film library (a whopping 427 films!) but they're only willing to pay him $8 a pound.... Morty Fineman (Jerry Stiller) is an independent schlock film producer-star-director with a problem. He's broke, and he can't finance his new film about a singing serial killer. The bank offers to buy his film library (a whopping 427 films!) but they're only willing to pay him $8 a pound. "We've weighed them," the bankers tell him, "and it's an impressive body of work." Fineman enlists the aid of his estranged daughter, Pamona (Janeane Garofalo) and his long-time assistant Ivan (Max Perlich). They try to rekindle interest in his films by getting Fineman a retrospective at the High Desert Film Festival in the remote town of Chaparral, Nevada, a haven for legal prostitution. Stephen Kessler co-wrote and directed THE INDEPENDENT, a hilarious but affectionate homage to B-movie visionaries like Roger Corman, Russ Meyer, and Herschell Gordon Lewis. The consistently funny film includes appearances by Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Jonathan Katz, porn star Ginger Lynn Allen, and rock legend John Lydon. There are also cameos by Hollywood luminaries like Ron Howard and Peter Bogdanovich (who sing Morty's praises), but the comedic highlights are the clips of Fineman's hysterically awful films, including such wonders as "The Foxy Chocolate Robot" and "Bald Justice." [More]

Genre: Comedies

Starring: Jerry Stiller, Janeane Garofalo, Ben Stiller, Andy Dick, Ethan Embry

Director: Stephen Kessler
Screenwriter: Mike Wilkins, Stephen Kessler
Producer: Mike Wilkins
Composer: Ben Vaughn

DVD Info

Release:

Dec 2, 2008

[DVD Details]

DVD Features:

  • Region 1
  • Keep Case
  • Widescreen

Audio:

  • Dolby Digital Stereo - English

Additional Release Material:

  • Morty's 427 Film Catalog

Reviews

 
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1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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Ratings Image
N/A

Stiller should get an Oscar for his performance as Fineman and that's no joke. This is a role of a lifetime and Stiller relishes the opportunity.

Full Review | comment Comment
08/16/08
Beth Accomando
KPBS.org
Ratings Image
4/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
12/06/05
Film Threat
Ratings Image
2/5

No review available.

comment Comment
08/10/05
Emanuel Levy
EmanuelLevy.Com
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
07/21/05
Houston Chronicle
Ratings Image
39/100

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
05/13/05
Apollo Guide
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4/5

Really, truly, one of the funniest movies of the last decade.

comment Comment
11/11/04
Rob Thomas
Capital Times (Madison, WI)
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3.5/5

has enough raw talent to elevate it above the usual mockufare

Full Review | comment Comment
08/03/03
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com
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3.5/5

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
03/10/03
Marrit Ingman
Austin Chronicle
Ratings Image
4/5

Now this is what I'm talking about right here. We need more films like THIS!

Full Review | comment Comment
12/08/02
Ron Wells
Film Threat
N/R

Click to read the article

Full Review | comment Comment
10/21/02
Jean Lowerison
San Diego Metropolitan
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3/4

A lot of fun, thanks in no small part to the wonderfully over the top performance of Jerry Stiller

Full Review | comment Comment
09/10/02
Kevin N. Laforest
Montreal Film Journal
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2/4

When it's trying to be a more conventional comedy, it's mostly pretty bad.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/20/02
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune
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3/5

Hollywood loves to satirize itself, wanting to reassure us it doesn’t take itself too seriously. The Independent is worlds away from The Player (1992), but it’s still one joke hammered over and over, hitting more often than missing.

Full Review | comment Comment
07/05/02
Jeffrey Bruner
Des Moines Register
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3/4

A charming and funny look at the independent filmmaking business and the thin line between a masterpiece and a $9 nap.

Full Review | comment Comment
06/28/02
Erin Meister
Boston Globe
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2/4

It's cute and amiable, maybe easier to cherish if you don't recall Russ Meyer or Matinee or Ed Wood.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/03/02
David Elliott
San Diego Union-Tribune
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3/4

Good but not great.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/03/02
Melanie McFarland
Seattle Times
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7/10

Ranks right up there with Silver, John Waters' Cecil B. Demented and Christopher Guest's The Big Picture as terrific spoofs of the business of moviemaking.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/02/02
Jon Popick
Planet Sick-Boy
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C+

Despite laughs, the movie only sporadically works.

Full Review | comment Comment
05/02/02
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Ratings Image
2/4

While [Stiller] and everyone else look like they're having a great time working on a shoestring, their movie too often retells the same joke.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/26/02
John Monaghan
Detroit Free Press
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B-

A mockumentary that is as endearing as it is silly.

Full Review | comment Comment
04/26/02
Gary Dowell
Dallas Morning News
1 - 20 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
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