Amanda can never find a tone. It opens with a scene-reading (Taylor is a writer on a hacky TV show) that produces yawns, where our lead character is the only one that laughs. It's prophetic.
Comment
06/27/08
Finding Amanda (2008)
43
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:40
Fresh:17
Rotten:23
Average Rating:5.2/10
Consensus: Despite a charming turn by Matthew Broderick, Finding Amanda is too flimsily executed to succeed as a dark comedy.
Synopsis: From director Peter Tolan, creator of the hit television series Rescue Me, comes Finding Amanda, a hilarious and heartbreaking autobiographical comedy about the compulsions we can’t shake, and the... [More]
Starring: Matthew Broderick, Brittany Snow, Maura Tierney, Peter Facinelli
Director: Peter Tolan
Reviews for Finding Amanda
The familiar premise here has sharp fangs, unsparing wit and a knockout performance by Brittany Snow as the round-heeled 20-year-old.
06/27/08
A peculiar film, which is really two films fighting to occupy the same space.
06/27/08
Top Critic"Finding Amanda" is little more than what "Hardcore" might have been like if it had been rewritten by the author of a dirty joke book--an idea that, come to think of it, is actually more amusing than anything on display here.
06/26/08
It can be done -- there are rich, sordid black comedies out there -- but Tolan doesn't quite pull it off.
06/26/08
An uncle watching his niece pick up a john should sting, not feel like we're meant to snicker at the uncomfortable look on Broderick's face.
06/26/08
It's amusing but facile, reasonably clever but hopelessly glib.
06/26/08
Finding Amanda, the alternate title of which might well have been "I Oughta Be in Rehab," is an uneasy chronicle of addiction and denial wrapped in the rhythms of Neil Simon.
06/26/08
The interplay between Broderick and Snow ultimately make Finding Amanda more enjoyable than it should be.
06/26/08
Amanda is a generously funny, sharp-edged comedy with unusual promise, and to watch it grow a conscience when clearly the film needed more generous helpings of acid is one of the year's great mysteries.
06/26/08
The film's tone shifts jarringly from superficial broad comedy to something far darker. And the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold scenario is as old as the profession itself.
06/26/08
Top CriticFinding Amanda has its wispy charms, including a funny scene when the ecstasy Taylor pops begins to kick in, and later when he encounters a pimp with showbiz aspirations.
06/26/08
Top CriticBy keeping the tone light and the players human (Steve Coogan has a nice turn as a greasy casino host), and never, ever romanticizing the addict, Finding Amanda comes by its heartbreak honestly.
06/26/08
Opening with a scene from a bad sitcom that turns out to be indistinguishable from the rest of the movie, Finding Amanda limps before it’s even out of the gate.
06/26/08
A fun look at Vegas that imbues the seediness of the setting with a sense of innocence and warmth that might take some by surprise.
06/24/08
A clumsy mash of Leaving Las Vegas and Hardcore.
06/22/08
A breakthrough for Brittany Snow who shows she can do much more than horrible remakes and teen comedies...
06/20/08
False, forced, familiar and often vulgar, especially in its language and depiction of certain characters.
06/18/08
Whether talking about being hooked on pot or just plain hooking, the movie despite, well, its potpourri of addictions, sticks to surfaces. Not to mention that a darker tone for this rehab redemption fare, might have been just the cure.
06/17/08
Spot-on casting of Brittany Snow in the title role makes the fun movie with a serious turn both entertaining and credible.
06/10/08
Latest News for Finding Amanda
June 30, 2008:
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