Self Reliance 2023

Well I enjoyed that, loved It’s sense of humour and the idea behind it, a fun watch and some good work from Jake Johnson, worth your time. P.S Don’t watch it on your own tho ha

A fun premise with some decent ideas that doesn’t live up to its own potential

Hilarious at times; this is a decent movie with a surprisingly original concept.

While the movie had a compelling concept, it fell short of greatness. The technique of leaving the audience wondering what's real and what's in the protagonist's head was compelling. Unfortunately, the ending felt rushed and didn't quite stick the landing. Additionally, the soundtrack did not work for me, failing to complement the movie's tone and flow.

Enjoyable enough with some surprisingly deep messaging for a movie this goofy. Jake Johnson's comedic chops are always dependable and he proves to be capable enough behind the camera too. I'd say my biggest gripe was the balancing act of "is it real or is it in his head". Just feels like the movie plays a bit too fast and loose on that issue. It was certainly intentional, but the ridiculousness of certain elements took me out of it a bit (e.g., production ninjas). Still, with its fun premise, plentiful humor, and admirably brisk 89 minute length, I think this one is worth the watch.

Not necessarily a bad movie, but not a good one. I found myself distracted and annoyed a couple times through this movie. I also found myself surprised at the creativity in humour surrounding the plot. So, all in all, watch it but with the risk that you'll maybe want to bash your own cranium into a solid brick wall.

The idea was good, but the execution was mediocre at best.
Jake Johnson wrote, produced, starred and directed this - maybe he bit off more than he can chew.

Solid outing by lead Jake Johnson, with great bench support by Anne Kendrick, and lets not forget the irrepressible turn by Biff Wiff as James/Walter. Andy Samberg does his usual Andy Samberg thing, while a cast of the usual suspects you've seen but have no idea in what as Tommy's disbelieving family. Although the ending leaves you hanging on purpose, it is still worth the watch, if only to ponder, "What would I be willing to do for a shot at a million dollars?"

We ALL could use a James / Walter in our lives sometimes, if just to know someone has our back.

A good concept that doesn't reach it's full potencial. The comedy was hit and miss for me, some jokes are totally flat while others like the Ellen DeGeneres moments had me laughing out loud. The same could be said for the thrilling moments; hit and miss. The movie's at it's best when Jake Johnson and Anna Kendrick are together on-screen, which doesn't happen often enough unfortunately. Really liked the score. The ending doesn't really stick for some reason. Unsatisfying overall.

It is really hard to end a movie like this without it being a straight homage to The Game and feeling fresh. I feel for Jake Johnson for that, because that is the only thing holding back this movie.

Very fun and thought provoking. You can tell this idea was born out of Covid but not in a bad way. LONG LIVE DETECTIVE CRASHMORE

When I first started this movie I thought , oh it's like squid game. Then when Jake meets the homeless man I thought oh this weird relationship is going to be like his character on new girl and his best friend Tran.
Once I stop comparing situations and characters to previous things I watch, it was a decent movie to watch on a workday I might never have checked out otherwise

My biggest problem with this movie (and probably the favorite part of the movie for someone else) is that I didn't know how to watch it. I don't now, maybe that was the point. The viewer has to decide if it is metaphorical, literal, or about mental illness. Now that I think about it, I think that was the point as the story intentionally takes the viewer down false paths in the last third of the movie. This movie had real potential, but this shell game felt rather gimmicky.

follow me at https://IHATEBadMovies.com or facebook IHATEBadMovies

Fun idea, that never goes big enough. Jake Johnson’s good as the lead and there are definitely a few laughs here and there. It just left me wanting more and feeling little bit unsatisfied. The crew members were a funny touch.

Expected worse but it was watchable, i love Anna Kendrick main reason i saw the movie. It had funny lines, nice cameos, normal story not boring nothing spectacular. A fun movie to watch.

A funny and entertaining story with a surprising amount of heart.

A surprisingly refreshing concept that we don't get much these days. This high stakes game show could've been your cookie cutter January flix with predictable twists, but Jake Johnson takes a delightful and absurd turn, where over-the-top non-realistic action takes a back seat and we get 'Tommy' our main character running from place to place, getting his tooth knocked. Amplified by the surprisingly heartwarming character 'Maddy' (Anna Kendrick), Johnson nails as our goofy main character, the dark comedy works so well at times but also it falls too flat at many times. They do so many things right in this movie but at the same time so many things wrong.

While a great actor, Jake Johnson fails with the script on this one - the jokes are mostly poor and especially the ending leaves a lot to be desired.
It would have been way better if all this was inside the head of the character.
Not to mention a big plot home - initially they mentioned that the prize will be in USD and then it is in Danish krones? Why? Was this anywhere in the contract?
Why did they just not say - 1 million without the USD if they were aiming to surprise us with the currency in the end.

In summary - acting was excellent, good chemistry between the major characters except the family of the protagonist - all except the mother and the sister's husband were not really into it. The directing was okay, script especially the end - bad.

6/10 mainly because of the ending. If the ending was satisfying maybe 7.5/10

I had never heard of this movie until it popped up in my Movie Club, which is shocking because the cast and premise is right up my alley. Ultimately, it is a funnier version of something like The Game, and that really works. Quality straight to Hulu film and I will be watching again!

Rating: 4/5 - 85% - Would Recommend

The Game for the common Joe

Self Reliance - :heart:x6

I loved the idea of this movie. This movie was quite similar to The Game (1997) and yet not. That depends on whether what happened in this movie was real or not - plus the ending felt unfinished to me. And yet is an enjoyable movie.

How I rate:
1-3 :heart: = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 :heart: = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 :heart: = I expect you will like this too
9-10 :heart: = movies and TV shows I really love!

If you don't have anything going on and have 1.5 hours to kill give it a go. The concept is good and has been done several other times but never in a comedy format as far as I know. The relationships were fun and the comedy was definitely funny at times. Overall I feel like something was missing though. Not sure what I was looking for but it just wasn't there.

Similar premise to Most Dangerous Game with a few different rules. As a comedy, it kinda works especially that Ellen DeGeneres scene which was good. The best of the movie isn't necessarily the comedy itself, it's rather the characters and the nice dialogue between them. They definitely should have added 1 or 2 action scenes to make it a little bit more interesting.

The plot had the making of a killer movie. Execution was terrible. Lots of missed comedic moments that fell stale to crack even the smallest of smiles.

With a cast like this, I had may hopes crushed