MovieChat Forums > My Name Is Jerry (2009) Discussion > Great concept, poor execution.

Great concept, poor execution.

posted 17 years ago by mrme1013
16 replies | jump to latest

The idea of a business man hitting a mid-life crisis and hanging out with a bunch of goth-punk kids is actually pretty amusing. The lead, Doug Jones, is a fine actor, but between the poor production, direction, inexperienced supporting cast, and weak script, what could have been a funny, hear-warming film, turns into something terribly difficult to watch. I would love to see the current footage get scrapped and have the film picked up by a major company who could give it the funding and people it needs.

[–] wesleythomas 17 years ago

the footage that exists now was filmed soley to have something to show to investors, it's not the final film, from what i understand.

[–] AlienHead04 16 years ago

Yeah. I'm pretty sure the flim is still casting. I know people who have auditioned.

[–] Megatronika 16 years ago

Where did you see this?

[–] mschandler 16 years ago

Ya, the footage that anyone may have seen is just some little snippets that were shot for marketing purposes. Since then the script has been picked up and re-written by a writer that works at Warner Brothers, and is in the process of being re-cast with a much larger budget.

[–] lordphillock 16 years ago

I don't get it... budget, or experience doesn't necessarily guarantee quality, you know.

[–] mschandler 16 years ago

Well of course, nothing guarantees quality. That's the difference between art and commerce. But with a higher budget, there is more creative freedom for the director, with a more experienced cast there is more specificity in the acting (for we all know from Stanislavski that generality is the enemy of all art), and with a larger preproduction period there is more organization and forethought that goes into the planning of the logistics of the shoot.

So no, more money and experience doesn't guarantee a good product...but it sure does up the ante.

[–] murasakix 16 years ago

mschandler:

So insightful as always.

Referencing Stanislavski on an IMDB board? A board for bored teenagers and pr*cks.

Unheard of, yet
A step in the right direction.

Sarcastically yours,
Murasaki al'Aevon Aes Sedai of the Blue Ajah

[–] JHBLADER86 16 years ago

Andy Janoch, the screenwriter is my best friend and he is leaving on Sunday to go up to Indiana where the film should start shooting next week. If you guys are interested I could probably give updates if you're a fan of Doug Jones work. I know the script went through at least 6 rewrites minimum by Andy so hopefully any concerns people may have will be cleared up.

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] rainking-8 16 years ago

Yeah, I think they're gearing up to start shooting soon. I work for a university where they're doing some shooting (and btw the university where Doug Jones' graduated from, Ball State University) and we've been getting e-mails about them looking for extras or wanting to borrow an RV etc.

[–] firepyro500 16 years ago

where is this being filmed? i would love to know

[–] mansilence 16 years ago

It's being filmed in Munsie, Indiana. I think I spelled that right, but I'm not sure. And I disagree. From what I've seen, Doug Jones is fantastic and can probably pull of anything that is thrown his way. As for the supporting cast, Catherine Hicks has an emmy nomination, Don Stark is hilarious, and Allison Scarilotti has the spunk to pull off her role. As for Katlyn Carlson, I know her personally, and (I'm not just saying this because I know her) she's brilliant. I think that you all will be blown away by her performance. Trust me.

[–] mizhelenuk 16 years ago

It's filming in Muncie, and shooting will wrap in just about a week.

http://www.thedougjonesexperience.com/jerry.htm

[–] martian-5 15 years ago

Well, I've seen the final product and I have to say I'm very impressed with what they did with as little as they had. I certainly hope it gets picked up and gets a wide distribution a la Pan's Labyrinth and Little Miss Sunshine.

I'm sorry, my karma just ran over your dogma.

[–] cobmojo 15 years ago

If it were from a big production company it would have been screwed up. It's not perfect but it's also pretty amazing.

[–] mizhelenuk 15 years ago

It's just won three awards out of five nominations at the International Filmmaker Festival in the UK. It won Best Actress in A Supporting Role (Catherine Hickson), Best Soundtrack (Rick Digiallondardo) and BEST PICTURE OF THE FESTIVAL, beating entries from Stephen Soderbergh and George Clooney. The other nominations were Best Actor (Doug Jones) and Best Director (Morgan Mead). There were over 400 entries from 27 countries. Not bad, eh?

http://www.thedougjonesexperience.com