“Full of It” DVD Review
I’m not sure where to even begin with this review. I’m sure you are looking at the cover of this film and questioning where it came from exactly, which was my general reaction after seeing it. I’d never heard of any of the cast (though later recognized a few once I started watching the film) and I don’t remember it ever coming to theaters. On top of that the film had such a strange opening, I was quickly wondering what the heck kind of high school comedy this was supposed to be.
Full of It follows Sam (Ryan Pinkston) as he moves to a new town in his senior year of high school. Deciding he didn’t want to spend his last year of high school as the unpopular kid in another high school, Sam begins lying his way through this new school (or lying his “a%$ off” as the DVD’s rear cover description states). After telling lie after lie, they slowly begin to come true and Sam is horrified by the end of the film to find that he can’t get out of his mess of lies no matter how hard he tries.
The film was such a mess to watch, I don’t even know where to begin. From a visual standpoint, the film was interesting as it wasn’t shot in the typical fashion for a comedy. Settings seemed to be dark and devoid of an excess of lighting (the school cafeteria, in particular, while bright, had a fair amount of shadows)—perhaps I noticed all of this because I didn’t want to pay full attention to the slipshod story that was unfolding before me on the screen. This also set me up to think it may be a comedy with a bit more depth—it wasn’t, however. Big surprise.
In a way the film seems to feel like it was stemmed from some 80s film, ala Teen Wolf or the 70s Freaky Friday, in that some mystical element is involved in making his wishes come true. In fact, the more I think about it the more it seems like a naughtier version of a Disney channel movie and I’m still recalling a similar plot being something I saw on the Disney channel at one point. Regardless, the film doesn’t seem to try being original in the least; the outcomes are predictable and the actors, while not horrible, really bring nothing remarkable to the roles.
Once the mystical “broken mirror” element is introduced into the film, it became something else entirely different from what I expected. The fact the “lies” became false again once another mirror was broken (it doesn’t make sense, don’t worry about it) doesn’t really strike me as something that would ever attempt to win an award for writing, but the outcome of everything in the end of the film leaves you scratching your head. If everything turns back to normal after the mirrors broken, why does he still have the Porsche? For a movie that’s supposedly dealing with mystical elements, why they left him with the Porsche makes little sense to me. I’d rather he just have woken up in a class in a pile of his drool at the end rather than this awkward ending—then again the film was nothing spectacular anyway, so the way it ended was the least of my worries at the time…I just wanted it to be over with.
So yes, this film is, in general, a waste of time. There’s nothing original here, the humor is non-existent (Craig Kilborn’s small roll is a bit humorous, but ultimately uninspired as well) and the characters are forgettable. I’d recommend the film for younger viewers just because it’d be a decent time waster, but the film throws a bit too many objectionable moments to be something viewers under 13 should be viewing. Now that I think about it, it’s probably only those that are 13 or younger that would find the film funny—anyone older than that will simply see it for what it is: something that, when their friends ask them if they saw the film, they can reply with “Yeah I did. And you should Skip It.”
The DVD
This DVD is “loaded with special features!” There’s little worse than seeing that sticker on a DVD for a movie you’ve never heard of, but, of course, it’s just a bit of hyperbole as there really isn’t that much here; a lot when you itemize it, but when you sit down to view it everything is short and the extras barely collect to over a half an hour. Packaging is a standard amaray case, no slipcover and inside is a lone disc with art mirroring the cover. Menus are simple and easy to navigate. Audio and video on the film is fine. There’s nothing objectionable for either transfer and the 5.1 is an unimpressive mix.
First up on the extras is “Introducing Ryan Pinkston”, with the subtitle of “Meet the comic star!” Yes, let’s meet him. Or not. This extra introduces us to Pinkston as if he’s already a big name in comedy (I’ve watched Punk’d before, but I’ve never seen him prior to this film) and watching him get his hair cut in the end of the extra was only entertaining because I got tired of looking at the dead wookiee on his head for over an hour and a half.
“Man on the Street” has Pinkston doing “hilarious” interviews with random people on the street and “Perils of Lying” and “Bad Advice” interview the cast and crew of the film about their personal experiences on the subjects. The featurettes wrap up with “Video Yearbook” which has the cast talk about the “embarrassing fashion and biggest regrets” of their years in high school. If you can’t tell, I wasn’t impressed, or entertained, by any of these extras.
The final set of extras is a set of six deleted scenes that, gasp, are not funny or entertaining in the least.
As if it needs to be said, this DVD is nothing worth seeing. With all of your power, Skip this DVD—don’t rent it, don’t look at it (other than to point at it and say “I heard that movie really sucked”) and instead rent a comedy or film more worth your time.
Full of It is now available on DVD.