Awful Nice (2013) User Reviews

Not that bad

[Evanoil · 6/10 · 25 July 2015]

This movie is a one of a hell to classify . For now its a comedy but i found it hard to keep my smile through most of the film . Sure it has its funny moments , Some of them are even better than in most of the famous comedies but i wouldn't call it a comedy . As far as i can see its a drama about brothers relationships. The actors in this movie will be new for most of the viewers but they didn't fail to deliver a good acting. The plot is pretty nice and even though i got a little bored like 15 min before the ending , I would recommend to watch this movie with beers and only if you've got nothing else in mind .One thing for sure , It doesn't deserve the 5 on the site.

Chix Chat on Film Review: Sibling competitiveness on steroids.

[EmmaDinkins · 4/10 · 16 March 2013]

Sometimes a story played out on film serves as a motivator or is inspiring or just plain entertaining, however in the case of the independent film Awful Nice, I am still attempting to categorize it. The story begins with Jim (James Pumphrey) retrieving his younger brother Dave (Alex Rennie) to return home and attend the memorial services for their recently deceased father. The condition and location in which Jim finds Dave was the first indication that somebody has issues. This film did something that has never happened to me before, I laughed uproariously at some very funny sequences, but once the film was over I was left feeling unfulfilled. Usually if it is a good comedy, the emotion elicited is upbeat and cheery but not with this film. The characters Dave and Jim both reminded me of how competitive brothers can be having grown up in a household with three brothers myself, but the incessant arguing and fighting was just too much. I continuously asked myself if Jim is the smart one why does he keep following advice from Dave. And then you realize that after a while some of the lunacy starts to make some sense. I do wonder what inspired writer Alex Rennie to create this outlandish road trip, brothers bonding story, and whether the character Dave was based in part on Alex's own life. The reason that I ask this question is because Mr. Rennie was so convincing with his particular kind of crazy as Dave. He was quick witted, rationalized everything from a spoiled brat point of view and took no responsibility for anything in his life all while guilting Jim into mindless submission. Mr. Rennie is either a really good actor or he really is Dave. I've never been to Branson, but there was a huge inference that it is overrun with Russian Mafia and prostitution, which is the world that Jim and Dave's father's business partner seemed to be very much a part of. Since I watch a lot of Law and Order reruns it was easy to spot Christopher Meloni (Jon Charbineau) in spite of the mustache, the horrible accent, and the worse wig ever. He did a great job of portraying a sleazy businessman not that he did anything that was sleazy, he just really looked the part. I still do not know what the title related to, I suppose they used Awful Nice because My Idiot Brother was already taken.

Not awful, but not very nice either, and frequently funny

[vchimpanzee · 13 June 2016]

Overall, the brothers show us a good time, sometimes silly, sometimes serious and often funny. They get along better in some scenes than they do in others, and sometimes they want to kill each other. And I was very grateful this was on broadcast TV, because the sound went out so often (along with the speaker's mouth being blurred) it was sometimes hard to follow what was going on, but I really don't think I would want to hear what I missed. I mean I really didn't.

Sheriff Wegman and Deputy Bruce play "good cop, bad cop". Both cops play both parts, but Bruce is funnier. And dumber.

I think Ivan is the man Jim decided to hire to fix up the cabin when the brothers realized they were The Three Stooges ("That's coming out of my half" "That's coming out of your half."). Also, I recognized the voice of Yakov Smirnoff but didn't realize that was really him until the credits.

The cabin is too much of a dump so they rent a motel room from another guy who is quite a character. No, I don't know his name.

You have to stay around for the closing credits. Not just because of all the funny stuff in the credits themselves (I have never seen some of the wacky stuff that was done), but also the great musical performance on the left side of the screen. I hesitate to call it bluegrass not only because I'm not sure you can have drums in bluegrass, but also because Dr. Ralph Stanley once said what he does is old time, not bluegrass. It's actually a nice polished but heavily traditional sound with fiddles and banjo.

It's not a bad movie if you can see it cleaned up.

Dumb and Dumber

[cattjones · 3/10 · 16 March 2013]

I don't know what the heck Todd Sklar was thinking when he wrote this film. I guess the best way that I can describe it is as a crazy dramatic comedy. While I was watching this film I kept thinking to myself, whose crazy family is this film based on? Hopefully no ones, because there were times that I thought these two brothers were going to kill each other. Dave (Alex Rennie) is the carefree younger brother who is homeless and is used to eating out of trash cans and seems to like his life just the way it is. He is really disgusting and does some outlandish crap (use expletive here). His older brother Jim (James Pumphrey) hunts Dave down because their father has died and they discover that they have inherited a cabin in Branson Missouri. A road trip ensues and the two of them hit the road. It turns out that the cabin is a total wreck and Dave decides that this would be a great brother bonding experience if they fixed up the cabin together instead of hiring someone else to do it. I was thinking that at this point in the film that Jim was the sane one since he has a family and a child; but that is not the case. For some reason (I think that it is guilt), Jim keeps doing whatever the heck his crazy brother Dave wants him to do. I just kept shaking my head. I don't care how much I may have ignored a sibling in the past there is no way that I would do some of the stupid stuff that these two do. At one point Dave swallows a handful of dog pills and I just knew that he would be dead in the next scene, but nope. The deceased father's business partner, Jon (Christopher Meloni) was responsible for handling the legalities for these two idiots. At first I thought that he might be nuts too, but it turns out that he was the smartest one on the screen. I almost didn't recognize Christopher because the wig and disguise he was wearing was so terrible. I guess the budget was not that big in the costume department. Anyway, although I laughed a whole lot in this film after it was over, I was just left blank. Like Emma, I am not sure what the title Awful Nice meant; but it is what it is.

Don't let the cute bear on cover fool you

[cekadah · 1/10 · 9 February 2014]

A perfectly unfunny movie!

One brother has a personality that is the polar opposite of the other brother. One is responsible and focused on his life. The other is totally irresponsible and focused only on himself and what he considers "fun".

So the writer and director put them on a 'road trip' to check out an inherited lake side cottage. Surely this will be funny - no it's not. The brothers fight repetitively over the same things and you the viewer can see it all coming. And the theme park sequence is just a foolish attempt at fun times for the boys.

And if anyone was surprised by the fire and the ending fight at the airport - well I feel sorry you.

The title should be shortened to "Awful"

[aethyr-362-359287 · 3/10 · 21 September 2014]

None of the characters in this movie are likable.

I'm reasonably sure that one brother was supposed to be the screw up with no direction or motivation and the other brother was supposed to have had his life more or less 'together' (and then of course we all learn a clichéd lesson), but I found both of the characters equally unlikeable and deplorable.

I pretty much wanted to see both main characters die in a horrific accident so the movie would end and I wouldn't have to watch any more. I actually stopped watching the movie and went and did some housework because it was more entertaining. I have a policy of watching till the end for 'redeeming features', but I was disappointed....

I'm giving it some points because the filming, editing, sound were all fine...

Garbage

[brodyzenodixon · 1/10 · 9 January 2020]

Wanted to like but the slacking brother is unlikeable trash. Someone needed to put him and this movie out of their misery.

Like a 1930's cartoon

[WatchingInDarkness · 1/10 · 11 September 2022]

About the only thing the script got right was the degree that siblings can differ and fight. There were so many over the top elements thrown in that it resembled the hyperbole found in 1930's cartoons.

One example is the trip to the motel in Branson. The clerk was looking at some online image that was implying he was deviant, possibly with children, and then was wearing mascara and a dog sex collar at work as a hotel clerk. Whereas the intent was likely to make the clerk appear absurd and outrageous, his subsequent sex pitch to the brothers was definitely a type of homophobia that apparently was just fine with the director, producer, screenwriter, and actors. Gays are not predatory freaks, and should not be depicted as some human rejects in predatory mode. Shame on this movies. Not funny in the least. SMH.

Stupid Funny Sibling Rivalry

[crystalmh3698 · 8/10 · 7 March 2014]

Very funny movie especially if you have a dumba** little brother. It started out the second scene with Dave eating a Deep Fried Breaded Pork Loin Sandwich if you are from Middle America you probably know what I am talking about. It's one of the few things I miss about the Midwest and it looked wonderful. I thought the relationship between the brothers was a lot of fun and yes the fighting was predictable and over the top but I was thoroughly entertained by the ridiculous behavior. There are some very funny and kinda dirty shout outs to the "Wild Things" movie. Christopher Meloni is great as the squirrel loving not so legitimate business partner of Dave and Jim's dearly departed father. Toss in Branson Russian Mafia, prostitutes, a lot of alcohol and a bunch of other silly stuff. Don't take it (or yourself) too seriously and you will have a good time.

Best movie I've ever seen about brotherhood

[josecanter · 10/10 · 5 November 2015]

Imagine Step Brothers meets Mouse Hunt; that's Awful Nice.

Sibling rivalries are ripe territory for comedies. It's the sort of situation where years-long resentments boil over and make a general mess of things. It's funny because it's family, and it's more spiteful because it's family, and there's just a bit of sadness in there too (since it's family).

There's an example of this early on in Awful Nice. Jim (James Pumphrey) and Dave (Alex Rennie) are the squabbling siblings in question. They're having dinner with family following their dad's funeral. After a toast, Jim and Dave sip their champagne. They they eye each other, they realize that they're inexplicably trying to gulp their champagne faster. The champagne done, they each pick up their glasses of beer. Then the water. The race continues with a gravy boat. And then they try to beat the s**t out of each other as their relatives look on shocked. (There's an Alonzo Mourning rookie card involved in this too, one that I may have in a box somewhere.)

These kinds of absurd escalations into slapstick (and cartoon violence) are what Awful Nice does Best. That isn't to say it's dialog driven humor isn't spot on as well. There's a certain quickness to the back and forths between the two brothers in this movie that reminds me of Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn in Swingers. The dialogue comes fast, the insults and jabs arrive quicker, and there's a sense of personality that arises from comic beat to comic beat.

Beyond the verbal and physical comedy in Awful Nice, there's a good knack for little details and sight gags. There's the pet tarantula in the opening scene which helps lend an extra layer of sordidness to what Dave's life in the tepee must have been like. A later throwaway moment involving Tabasco sauce also builds a sense of rough-and-tumble history. In the background in an office scene, there's a piece of art featuring a bear driving a speedboat.

Awful Nice shoots from gag to gag rapidly, which makes the movie breeze by, but the last third feels like it's maybe lacking something toward the end. It's not bad and it thankfully doesn't become sentimental in an unearned way. They could have easily gone there, but the movie is resistant to such easy, feel-good moments that would undermine the bitterness of it's main relationship. I think that's admirable, actually, since it'd be easy to go for some easy emotional beat and wrap up the film with a bow.

But the resolution does come a little too easy and it's not as satisfying as everything that leads up to it. In some ways what happens is telegraphed well in advance, and for a film where the jokes seem to come out of nowhere, something that I could see coming feels a bit disappointing. In that respect, I wish the plot was treated more like the jokes in the film, that there'd be a sense of surprise to both the set-up and the punchline.

And yet I can't completely hold this movie's faults against it, since it did it's job as a comedy and as a story. It made me laugh throughout, and it made me care about the characters, and ultimately, that's what matters. I highly recommend giving this movie a spin at your local Netflix.

Like a comedy from the 90's.

[w-turnige · 10/10 · 6 November 2015]

Could be the funniest film I've seen in 5-6 years...

Like it consistently killed me with laughter, to the point that I actually missed things because I was laughing so hard.

The relationship of the brothers hinges on perfection and the dialogue is snappy with a consistent edge of hilarity.

Not sure how it hasn't become a word of mouth hit like Foot Fist Way or Wet Hot American Summer. I suppose that's more a sign of the times than anything else, but seriously, this movie is friggin' hilarious.

I don't get why it has so many poor ratings. I laughed from start to finish, and didn't find anything offensive or hard to follow or frustrating or whatever. No qualms with this flick at all. Just good times, and the kept rolling.

Everyone should run to their Netflix and watch this movie.

Funny - Road trip meets Coupe de Ville meets What about Bob.

[face-819-933726 · 8/10 · 5 February 2014]

There really are some knee slappingly funny moments in this movie. This is a brother/buddy comedy, and a good one, you might not see it right away with the wrapping all messed up, but it's there. This Younger brother Dave character should be tranquilized, but then there would be no conflict, and the world would be boring, and that is the point of this movie. I Enjoyed the story a lot, the acting was great, they looked like they were all having a really good time. (and that could be the best acting of all) I was impressed with the flow of the film, and how there always seemed to be something new that Dave could pull out of his patriotic hat. I say go for it, and whole heartedly recommend this movie, with only a bit of language, and a lot of brother brawling, there isn't much here that should prevent everyone from getting a good show.

A wonderful mixed bag of low budget production value and hilarious comedy

[crashgrosscup · 10/10 · 3 November 2015]

I grabbed this as an iTunes 99 cent rental based on the trailer.

Aside from Swingers, this was quite possibly the worst production value I've seen in a film with this kind of distribution. The audio quality was terrible, the lighting was amateur, the editing was simple, and overall, it was just really low budget.

But I watched the entire film and laughed the entire time. The acting was great, the script was fantastic, and the characters were perfect. The location could not have been better for the story, and the use of music (i.e. Dr. Dog) was spot on.

Which all goes to show, when you have a good story and good actors, you could shoot it on VHS and be successful. Film is about storytelling, not resolution or film grain or VFX or all-star casts.

This film succeeded in telling a compelling story with flying colors, and made me laugh (hard) for 90 minutes. A+++

Hilarious messy indie comedy about sibling rivalry

[mike-yanagita18 · 9/10 · 12 April 2013]

I have a brother. I can understand how some people who don't may not quite get all of the humor or the dialog or how things can escalate from talking to fighting in less than 5 seconds, but if you do have a brother (or a sister I suppose), then this movie will feel all too familiar to you. And in a good way. It's some of the most realistic sibling rivalry I've seen in a movie, combined with some of the most unrealistic and absurd comedy. But it's great absurd comedy so you just kind of go with it. The movie does a really nice job of balancing physical gags with clever banter, and I found myself quoting it a bit after-wards (that's always a good sign). A rocking soundtrack combined with the breakneck pace of the editing and each gag coming one after another, and the whole movie sort've flies by. On one hand, that can be a good thing, as you never want to be waiting around for a movie to end. Comedies that are too long often leave a sour taste in my mouth. On the other hand, there isn't much of a build-up to, or culmination of, a resolution between the brothers, and that was a little unfulfilling. Other than that, I loved everything about this movie, and I think it'll find a huge audience when they release it. I'll be seeing it again.

I thought this was a hidden gem

[illbeseeingyou-32553 · 10/10 · 17 November 2015]

Probably the funniest movie I've seen about sibling rivalry.

The comedy is funny and over-the-top, but the naturalistic acting style makes it feel more real than it should.

Ultimately, this movie is about characters. Like having a camera spying on a pair of adult brothers in a love/hate relationship that act like children when they are around each other.

It's a low-key independent movie, so if you don't need big name actors and lots of computer graphics to keep your attention then it's quite entertaining.

If you didn't like this flick than you just don't understand the ins and outs of having a brother.

Overall it was hilarious and heartfelt. An indie movie at its best.

A very pleasant surprise

[hammockbill · 10/10 · 3 November 2015]

I don't understand how more people aren't talking about this movie.

Awful Nice has to be one of the funniest movies I've seen since I was kid. It's not at all perfect, but it's absolutely hilarious, and just goes for it so hard.

I can understand if indie film audiences don't get it. This is more Tommy Boy and It's Always Sunny than it is Sideways or Tiny Furniture (which I like by the way), but I don't understand the mixed reviews and am honestly surprised more people haven't found this film by now. It seems like there's a cult following, but not to the point that you're hearing about it.

I first heard about Awful Nice on Doug Loves Movies, and added it to my Netflix Queue that night. I then of course forgot about it for 8 months. Then I saw it on the top ten on the pirate bay (I was just looking, I promise...) and decided I had to finally watch it. Very glad that I did. I laughed my balls off for 90 minutes straight.

It reminded me at points of Step Brothers and Wet Hot American Summer, and in a different (and almost certainly worse) universe it would be a huge studio comedy starring Jason Sudekis and Paul Rudd. It a better universe, this would've been the next Swingers or Foot Fist Way. Maybe it is and I just haven't heard about it. Either way, if you like funny movies, give this a spin. You won't be disappointed.

Hilarious!

[laffertydan · 10/10 · 26 March 2013]

Far from perfect, but easily one of the funniest movies I've ever seen. Seriously so funny. Who is Alex Rennie and somebody get this kid a TV show. He is on fire throughout this whole movie. I was non-stop laughing out loud from start to finish. So many good gags and so many funny lines. "We'll put it on our tab. Or we'll get a tab going, and then we'll put it on the tab" (after breaking a chair). "That bat had like pine-tar on it or something" (after breaking a window). I could go on but I'd be ruining the movie. And all of the supporting characters were real funny too. Although I wasn't a fan of a lot of the costuming and make-up. And it wasn't that it was too low budget or anything, it just kind of seemed too loud and cartoonish with a lot of the characters. Might be a little too absurd for most people, but I just went with it and am glad I did because it paid off time and time again. In fact, that's pretty much how the whole movie went. After about 15-20 minutes in, it starts to get a little crazy, and you just have to go with it, because the laughs are a mile a minute if you do. Definitely catch this movie if you can. It's the funniest.

Funniest movie at SXSW

[kent-tolson · 9/10 · 26 March 2013]

I saw this at the Alamo and thought it was the funniest movie of the whole festival, and maybe one of the funniest I've seen in the past few years. The big laughs come from the physical comedy, but there's a lot of subtle humor in the dialog and the characters too that I only started to pick up on towards the middle of the movie. Kind of made me feel like I'd catch more the 2nd time around, but this was the last screening of it at SXSW, so I guess I'll wait 'til it gets released. There were some lulls in the middle and the story arc goes from 0-60 a little too quick at the end, but these are minor complaints that only keep it from being a perfect movie. And most movies are not perfect, especially comedies, and ESPECIALLY extremely funny ones. Like Tommy Boy and Billy Madison aside, there are no perfect comedies in the last 20 years. And this movie felt like Tommy Boy got into a car accident with Sideways. And in a good way. I loved it.

Simply a great movie about best friends or brothers

[toniegarcia · 10/10 · 6 October 2018]

A really funny movie that will remind you of someone you grew up with or a dumb brother.

Not bad

[solidabs · 8/10 · 18 May 2020]

I thought for sure it was going to be another 1. It was not bad. It was actually funny. At first I thought the hungry brother was just gonna annoy me. But he just started cracking me up. Definitely a surprise. Meloni was horrible as usual. Acting is not his thing.

MO POWAH BABY!

[danbeast-29782 · 10/10 · 10 July 2021]

James pumphrey is the man and this movie is great.