Wonderful, wonderful film!

I'm surprised, too. I never heard of it before today. I saw it in the video store and decided to give it a shot. It was actually pretty good. There's a lot that screams low budget but it's very enjoyable. I loved Thomas Hulce in it and wonder why the heck we haven't seen in more films.

It's also pretty cool to see Echo Park in this -- definitely not the glam LA that you usually see in movies.

I lived in Los Angeles for years and what I loved about this movie is rather than showing the glam it showed average people in their day to day struggle. It is not incredibly funny or tragic but real life. I have it on DVD and watch it every so often.

Just saw this last night and I must admit I liked it. The quirkiness of the story, eccentricity of the characters, the travelling pizza truck, the dopey wannabe Ah-nold, the realistic views of L.A., and other elements were enjoyable. What I really was impressed with was Susan Dey. The last time I saw her was as a little boy watching "The Partridge Family". I never once tuned into "L.A. Law" so when I saw Susan looking so great I was shocked! Who would have thought that she would develop into such a head-turner with an hourglass figure, toned arms, and yummy legs!

Other than the really horrible ending (just plain stupid and lazy), this movie was good.

I just watched it yesterday, discovered it a few days ago through this weird process... I recently re-watched Eating Raoul for the first time in 30 years, and in the commentary they mentioned that the guy who plays the porn shop proprietor was also a cast member of The Pee-Wee Herman Show (they were specifically referring to the 1981 stage show that was eventually filmed for HBO, not the kids show, though he was apparently on that as well) and that sent me strolling down memory lane and I decided to look up whatever else he's been in. Echo Park jumped out at me because I've lived in that area for almost 20 years and I thought it'd be neat to see a movie shot there 10 years prior. (The guy from Pee-Wee, John Paragon, played the stripper boss.) I like Tom Hulce, had a crush on Susan Dey when I was a kid, figured what the hell, Amazon is practically giving the DVD away. Right off the bat I recognized the Austrian weight lifter guy as a great character actor I've seen a thousand times, most recently as the leader of the Nazi gang in Breaking Bad. He was also Buck the Pussy Wagon pilot in Kill Bill.

I thought it was an OK movie. It never rose to any particular heights that would make me say "Wow, what a great little hidden gem!" The writing wasn't especially sharp. Nothing very interesting happened. The kid was unusually unlikeable. If that ending was intentional and not the result of them running out of money, then I don't know what to say. One of the most abrupt and lame endings I've ever seen. I didn't feel like I wasted my time watching it, but I'd never recommend it to anyone.

It's an OK film. Quite clunky and awkward in a few places and several of the performers were not actors. Also I have no idea what the final mountain top scene meant - my best guess is the helicopter shot was the most expensive thing in a low budget movie so in it went regardless.
But having said all that I liked the film. It had good intentions, Miss Dey looked very fetching and I liked the snatches of song from Mr Hulce.