Not your average adult movie.
Andy Sargentee is a decent guy and the town's favorite failure: an unemployable dreamer whose ex's husband's wealth intimidates Andy to such an extent he does little with his teen son. Andy's new idea is for Butterface Fields to be the first town to band together to make the first full-length feature amateur adult film. He recruits five regulars at Floyd's Bar to contribute $2000 each. They get the kid at the video store, whose camcorder is constantly on, to be the cinematographer. The pal they all call "Some Idiot" volunteers to be writer-director. Otis becomes producer. Now, can they find actors, and especially, women? Can a pornography project give Andy self-respect?
Genre(s): Comedy
Runtime: 96 minutes
Rating: 6.3/10 (2,788 votes)
Release Date: 6 February 2005
Country: USA, Germany
Languages: English
Company: First Look International
Sound: Dolby Digital
MPAA: Rated R for sexual content and language.
Director(s): Michael Traeger
Related Videos for The Moguls (2005)
Thinking of watching this movie? Then click on the like button!
Producer(s):
Laura Greenlee - co-producer
Andrew Hildebrand - co-producer
Michael Kuhn - executive producer
Malcolm Ritchie - executive producer
Aaron Ryder - producer
Jill Tandy - executive producer
Colleen Woodcock - associate producer
Mark Woolley - co-producer
Robert D. Cain - executive producer (uncredited)
Writer(s):
Michael Traeger - (written by)
Cast:
Jeff Bridges - Andy Sargentee
Tim Blake Nelson - Barney Macklehatton
Joe Pantoliano - Some Idiot
Ted Danson - Moose
William Fichtner - Otis
Patrick Fugit - Emmett
John Hawkes - Moe
Brad William Henke - Ron (as Brad Henke)
Dawn Didawick - Clara
Glenne Headly - Helen Tatelbaum
Music: Nic. tenBroek
Laura Greenlee - co-producer
Andrew Hildebrand - co-producer
Michael Kuhn - executive producer
Malcolm Ritchie - executive producer
Aaron Ryder - producer
Jill Tandy - executive producer
Colleen Woodcock - associate producer
Mark Woolley - co-producer
Robert D. Cain - executive producer (uncredited)
Writer(s):
Michael Traeger - (written by)
Cast:
Jeff Bridges - Andy Sargentee
Tim Blake Nelson - Barney Macklehatton
Joe Pantoliano - Some Idiot
Ted Danson - Moose
William Fichtner - Otis
Patrick Fugit - Emmett
John Hawkes - Moe
Brad William Henke - Ron (as Brad Henke)
Dawn Didawick - Clara
Glenne Headly - Helen Tatelbaum
Music: Nic. tenBroek
Posted on: December 10, 2007
Posted in: Comedy
February 17th, 2007
He's been playing the same character for a while now. Admittedly, hedoes a better and low-key job in this than The Big Leibowski, but heseems to be coasting the last few years. A bunch of very good actorsplaying in a small movie makes this an above average movie, but not bymuch.
It's another bunch of middle-aged losers trying for their moment ofglory. This time, it's a group of bar flies (which the name of theirsoftball team recognizes) who get together and try to produce their ownamateur porn movie. All the typical comedy situations you'd expectoccur. Much of the humor is provided by Bridges' characters voice over,especially some admitting to obvious foreshadowing.
As mentioned, it's very predictable, with no real surprises but issaved by most of the supporting actors playing it very naturally. Theonly ones who go overboard are Bridges and Danson but not by much.Overall it's a nice movie to rent for some laughs
April 15th, 2007
Watchable for its atmosphere of calmness and innocence. The plot ispromising, the cast fabulous, but what is missing then? Of course, thefilm has some situation humor and the acting is good enough, but all inall it seems like they still had something more to "squeeze" out of it.It looks like a draft, a good one, but still a draft. Simple is good,but at the right time and amount. Some moments and characters wereskipped over too quickly, the off voice and music were a bit too much,and since there were no blatant dialog jokes, the overall pace shouldhave been slower in order to underline the comic situations morethrough acting.
July 4th, 2007
I have to say I saw this movie 2 years ago and this is one of the worstmovies I have ever seen. I am not surprised at all this film hasn'tbeen released yet. Jeff Bridges, which by the way I highly admire butafter seeing this film and the door in the floor, he has trulyslipped!!! In this film he stumbles his words. He seems as though hehas forgotten his lines and just rambles on and one till it kinda sortasounds like this is his lines. Jeff did not seem like he was sober inthis film.
As for Ted Danson, PLEASE, I beg you do not play another gay man. Youare great actor but you can NOT play a gay man.
The concept is good but the writing is horrible. My advise to thewriter: go back to writing school or learn a different trade.
January 2nd, 2008
You may remember a little movie being advertised back in 2005 calledThe Moguls. It starred Jeff Bridges playing a riff on his "Dude"persona and a whole load of other respected character actors such asWilliam Fichtner, Joe Pantoliano, Tim Blake Nelson, John Hawkes,promising up and comer Patrick Fugit (Almost Famous) and Ted Danson.The film looked amusing, quite possibly a fine night in, one could domuch worse. Time goes by and we hear nothing more about it. Thensuddenly, out of the blue in November 2007, we begin to see a littlemovie being advertised called The Amateurs, a sweet little comedy rompstarring Jeff Bridges, Ted Danson and a host of respected talent.
The reason for this pull back and re-release is simple. The Moguls, TheAmateurs or whatever you want to call it, just isn't very good. Infact, it stinks like a big pile of dirty knickers. Brace yourself,because now, I'm going to tell you why.
The Moguls/Amateurs begins with Andy (Bridges) a divorcée who visitshis son on his birthday to discover that his ex's new partner is filthyrich. Andy goes to his local bar, head hanging, realising he's neverdone anything with his life. Finally, Andy comes to the conclusion thatthe only way to win his son's respect is – to make a porno.
As we are introduced one by one to the characters, we meet Mo and Ron.Of course, they call them Mo-Ron. We also meet a character named SomeIdiot. ("Amateur porn, the stuff that Any Idiot can make with his videocamera," "hey Some Idiot's got a brother!") Moose (Danson) is gay, butdoesn't want anyone to know, yet of course, they all do because he actslike your average stereotypical homosexual. Crickets. Tumbleweed. Otis,played by William Fichtner, wants to know if there's a guy who juststands around on the set and so he is made executive producer of theporno. And so the lazily written and completely unnecessary voice overgoes on, pointing out each and every thing in the movie that we canquite clearly see or work out for ourselves. Andy's inner monologuedelights in it's quirky pausing of the film to slip in a quick jokeypoint about a character or point something out to us that we may needto know later on. A neon sign saying "Look! Look here for a plotpoint!" would have been less obvious. This voice-over even has theaudacity to tell us that when making a film, one of the main things youmust do is to show and not tell. You would think that writer-directorMichael Traeger would have caught the irony.
This opening half hour is rushed and unconvincing, with very littleactual character development with which to care about anything that'sgoing on. A film similar in overall character to this one would beDodgeball in which we have a group of likable underdogs who are notonly developed but have quirks that are actually quirky. Here, thecharacters only need a few seconds of pointless voice over to describetheir entire lives and make the caricatures of Poseidon look theystrolled right out of Of Mice and Men.
The script itself is a lame duck and that reflects in the performances.There are, for example, some potentially funny situations put forthhere, for example the porno production meeting at Some Idiot's housewhere he lives with his mother, but the execution is so bland that noneof the actual comedy gets across. Another scene in which Andy has anargument in a crowded coffee shop with Isiah Washington about big blackphalli as customers leave in disgust also falls short and ends up beinga tad racist as well as being as unfunny as, well, someone shouting theword 'd*ck' in a coffee shop. The constant, feeble, desperate attemptsat euphemistic humour are about as funny as listening to a conversationbetween a group of 14 year old boys giggling about sex.
A burning question here is, how, if the entire crew are made to standwith their backs turned the entire way through shooting a scene, do thepans and alternative angles get in there? Extraordinary. How doindustry professionals get it so wrong? You'd think they would be theirown technical advisors. As it is, the cinematography in this film isflat and uninteresting, making Year of the Dog look positively vibrant.
One wonders how this cast were attracted to such a script. LaurenGraham seems to be wondering exactly what it is she's doing there asher character is nothing but a potential love interest for Bridges tobumble over. Ten Danson's buttocks look to be particularly selfconscious, an image that I would have quite happily gone without. It'snot sordid enough to be shocking or daring and not amiable enough to besweet or heart warming. By the end, the film has degenerated into onebig schmaltzy love-in without having earned it, culminating in an awfulslow motion conga montage of respected talent acting elated in the mostunconvincing way possible. The final 'twist' ending, if you can call itthat, is at first glance interesting and suggests that there may behope for the film yet, but the neatness of it all brings us right backto contrivance once again, inane voice over checking the characters'fates off the list one by one as it did at the start.
It's easy to see why this film was so desperately pulled and re-issuedunder the guise of quirky low budget indie. Apparently, the film isslightly re-edited in it's 2007 form, although I can scarcely imaginethat a few re-cuts could improve on such a dud. I wonder ifwriter-director Michael Traeger really does believe that Any Idiot canmake a movie. Maybe he should have just let him.
February 10th, 2008
I just saw this movie (titled for my viewing: "The Amateurs", 2008,US), and was ever so pleasantly surprised. I'd seen the preview, andthought it looked pretty darn funny.
Pretty darn funny is exactly what it was! It's the story of a smalltown, comprised of many sweet down-and-outers, whose inspirationalleader (the iconic Jeff Bridges) is suddenly inspired (for a reallygood reason) to "make a porno film!!!".
What follows is a wonderfully absurd combination of the somewhat sordididea of the production of a porn film, and the somewhat corny idea ofnice people coming together to support each other, and cooperate on aproject for the benefit of all.
The cast contains so many faces you will recognize, but may not be ableto name, so I'm thrilled that these folks are involved in thistremendously fun film. Standout performances abound! Check out TedDansen, Joe Pantoliano, and William Fichtner, for example.
The screenplay was deftly written: A combination of the story itself,how the story's told, and how the story's told again. Quite clever. Farmore clever than meets the eye, in fact.
While many people have qualms about narration in a film, and oftenjustifiably, the story of "The Amateurs" (a far better & more logicaltitle than "The Moguls", by the way) was actually dependent upon thenarration… That's where a whole lot of the (subtle) humor lies!
One of my favorite movies is "Boogie Nights": brilliant, dazzling, andawfully sad… If you want to see a different take on the porn business(albeit, a completely innocent, heartwarming, and comically ironic takeon the porn business), have a look at "The Amateurs".
You won't regret it.
February 18th, 2008
Seduced by the cast list and concept, I took this home from my localvideo store only to end up staring in disbelief: how did they get it sovery, very wrong?
I love Jeff Bridges. but his acting here was little more thanscenery-chewing; it was as though the subtext to most of his lines was"I don't have much to work with here, so maybe if I overact andgesticulate, no one will notice how poor the script is."
There were a few good moments: William Fichtner brought an energy tohis role that set his performance apart from the others, and LaurenGraham's expressive face wrung far more depth and emotion out of herscenes than the film deserved. Other than that, however, I was amazedthat these people got involved with such a misbegotten project.
I have to admit, it wasn't horrible, and is probably worth a rental ifyou've nothing else to watch, but it has little to recommend it. Don'tbe suckered in by the cast and premise; these Amateurs are all hat andno rider.
February 20th, 2008
The Amateurs (formerly known in the USA as The Moguls) is a really fun,nicely directed movie with heart. Slightly odd, quirky charactersbanding together to make a porno movie, and getting much more in theprocess.
There were very few stereotypes in this movie (Ernest, played by TroyBrenna was one) and the story was unpredictable and fun to follow. Iappreciate that many of the characters, whom you would normally presumeare just there as comic relief, really become significant for otherreasons. Some scenes were flat out hilarious (Watch Eileen Brennan inthe few scenes she's given).
The matter of fact way that the characters approach making their filmprovides some of the great moments in this movie.
I highly recommend "The Amateurs" because it's just a great way tospend an evening.
The BIGGEST Critic
March 1st, 2008
Forget the titular Amateurs of the title – let's talk about theamateurs here at the IMDb. My Lord, how bad does a film have to bebefore people can smell it? How can the film business have sunk so lowthat people here found this awful, horrible movie funny and charming?This is one of the worst movies ever made, despite its game cast. Havethe people who "loved" this comedy ever seen a funny film? Because ifyou think this is funny, well, whatever must you think of Mr. Chaplin,Mr. Keaton, Mr. Brooks (Mel and Albert), Mr. Allen, Mr. Sturges, Mr.Wilder? Oh, yes, probably never heard of those guys. I know there is noaccounting for taste, but one does read these "reviews" thinking thatthe filmmakers simply sent everyone they knew to post nice things.Because no sane person could think this movie good, or even half-good,or even any good. It is reprehensibly bad in every way.
March 27th, 2008
THE AMATEURS is about as close to the quality of British film comedies(a high compliment indeed!) as we have seen, thanks to writer/directorMichael Traeger. It is everything a small town community aurarepresents without the stumbling blocks of cruelty that so oftenprovide the turning point in 'rural stories' that defame the simplehomespun humanity that is too often foreign to the big city life.Perhaps to refer to it as 'sweet' will rile some review readers, butfor this viewer the overriding emotion at the close of the story isjust that – sweet, in the finest sense of the term.
The film is narrated by the down and out, unemployed, newly divorcedmiddle-aged crisis victim Andy Sargentee (Jeff Bridges) who spends histime in the local watering hole trying to come up with an idea thatwill change his fortune – and life. Giving up his marriage to Thelma(Jeanne Tripplehorn) and his son Billy (Alex D. Linz) has been painfulbut Andy believes he will somehow regain their respect by discoveringhis 'big idea'. Surrounding him are other underachievers such as SomeIdiot (Joe Pantoliano), Barney Macklehatton (Tim Blake Nelson)hopelessly in love with loony dreamer Helen (Glenne Headly), churchjanitor Otis (William Fichtner), local video store worker and videobuff Emmett (Patrick Fugit), Moe/Ron (John Hawkes and Brad WilliamHenke) who are never seen alone, the closeted gay Moose (Ted Danson),and bartender Floyd (Tom Bower) among other 'observers'. A wild ideaoccurs to Andy: he and his friends could make an amateur porn film andmake money and gain fame. Out of both love of Andy and individual needsto make something of their boring existence in the little town, thegroup commits to helping Andy with his project. How the steps succeedand fail underline the integrity and unconditional friendship thesesimple people represent. Along the way we meet the porn film's starsincluding Valerie Perrine, Judy Greer, Fiona Hunter, Isaiah Washington,Melinda Dahl – all of whom eagerly participate in the 'very private'filming concept of an amateur porn film. How the final product isthreatened and ultimately survives produces the warm ending to thefilm. And along the way we get to know Thelma's new husband Howard(Steven Weber) who breaks the stereotype of the rich new stepfather,and these small town folk including Dawn Didawick, Jayne Taini, LaurenGraham, and Eileen Brennan (who contributes a very special cameo role).
The film has been named THE MOGULS and DIRTY MOVIE in other countriesand perhaps that confusion of titles has been part of the problem ofthe lack of promotion the film received in the theaters. But in a way,seeing this very special movie in home surroundings adds to theintimacy and the very warmly honest view of the genuinely kind andcaring interrelationships among the people of this small town. There ismuch to be learned from this film and the added features include thewriter/director sharing the experience with each of the actors in thistruly ensemble work. Highly recommended. Grady Harp
April 1st, 2008
To me this film seems to require a certain viewing environment toproperly appreciate, i.e. it's probably not a family movie, even forthe Osbournes of the world. What I mean is it will be embarrassing fromthe language standpoint if you're watching it with a person who's ageneration or two one way or the other. The main characters are Boomerage, living in a small town with not too many opportunities forfulfillment, much less greatness. But they don't need great, they haveone another and a solid conviction their de facto leader Andy Sargenteewill come up with an idea one day that will get them out of their rut.
…
For my complete review of this movie and for other movie and bookreviews, please visit my site TheCoffeeCoaster.com.
Brian Wright Copyright 2008