Actually, I expect this thread to sink like a stone, since I’m probably the first person to watch this movie on this board. The “official” release date on this direct-to-DVD movie was 2/17/09. I received it from Netflix on… wait for it… 2/17/09 and watched it the same day. Anyway…
I really liked the Dead Like Me TV series and was interested to see the movie. After watching it last night, I’d have to say, “it was pretty good”. First some changes from the original series. I’ll spoiler them just in case:
George, Mason, Jasmine, Reggie, and the mom were played by the original actors, as were Dolores and Crystal. Dolores provided some of the funnier moments in the show. The dad was mentioned but never appeared.
Daisy was re-cast as Sarah Wynter. Rube was no longer the leader of the reapers: Cameron (played by Henry Ian Cusick, “Desmond”, of Lost Fame) replaced him.
The story takes place
about 5 years in the future from the TV series. The characters are supposed to be more mature. George (Millie) has a lot more responsibility at Happy Time Employment agency. Jasmine is now on the police force, not a meter maid. The mom has made strides in coping (I’m trying not to give too much away). And Reggie has definitely, um… blossomed.
I thought the story was
well written. There was a good arc to the story and things tied together pretty well.
The special effects were about equivalent to the TV series.
All in all, I’d have to give this about 3.5 out of 5 stars. Anyone else see it yet?
I’ve got it on order from Amazon, since I loooooved the original series, but I have to say I’m really sad about (spoilered for cast changes, although I’m sure it doesn’t matter much)
Mandy Patinkin leaving the cast, of course, but more so Sarah Wynter stepping in as Daisy. Not only was she awful on 24, but she seems so much older than Laura Harris! (Only three years, apparently, but she played her much-older sister on 24, for Pete’s sake.) She doesn’t have the same vibe at all. If Laura Harris couldn’t do it, either create a new character for Wynter (or, ideally, someone else), or bring back Betty for a resolution to that storyline. Bah.)
I also really wish the movie was written by Bryan Fuller, but I realize that ship sailed a long time ago. Still, I’ll watch it with some measure of optimism that it can capture the Dead Like Me magic.
I wasn’t impressed. It didn’t have the same feel as the show and it didn’t tie up any lose ends, nor did it do much to set up for a series of movies. It wasn’t awful, but I was left wondering what they hoped to acomplish.
That’s true. It wasn’t a “wrap up” episode. It was more of a story continuation super-episode.
While I don’t think there will be more movies, I do think they did set it up (subtly) for another movie. In that new movie (p.s., this next spoiler reveals a MAJOR plot point. Don’t read it unless you’ve seen the movie or don’t care if it’s spoiled.)
George would become the leader of the reaper group. She showed a lot more maturity in this movie. She also was the only one of the reapers who didn’t take a significant part in killing (?) Cameron, so she wouldn’t be as stained by this as the others, thus being more worthy of being the leader.
I bought it yesterday on my way home from work, but was just too exhausted to watch it. I will definitely watch it tonight. I have been keeping an eye on it for a long time on various sites, so I’m pretty sure I know a lot of the major plot points. Very disappointed that
Kiffany is not back[/spoiler]and I understand that [spoiler]Der Waffle Haus also is gone?
I know, we were discussing that as the meaning of the end over at IMDB yesterday, but so what? That could have been set up in a far more connected to the series way. I’d heard that this was supposed to be the first in a series of movies, or to get the show back on the air (??) but it didn’t seem to be trying very hard to do that.
OK, we watched it. I think that it felt like kind of a stopgap between the series and a hoped-for return to series, like a catching-up with the characters. There weren’t a lot of things resolved, but we know where the characters are in their (after)lives.
Ellen Muth looks odd. Has she had collagen in her lips? She’s awfully young for that. Callum Blue was outstanding; Mason is always fun, and Jasmine Guy didn’t have enough good lines but held up her end.
I thought Sarah Wynter was just awful. She had no personality at all. Was she one of the makeup artists they brought in to cover when the real actress didn’t show? After Season 1, when Rebecca Gayheart didn’t come back, the character of Betty was replaced with Daisy, played by Laura Harris. So now they can’t get Laura Harris, they replace her with Whitey McBlank? It would have been better that they’d found a good actress – or actor – to play yet another character. At least they didn’t write the character of Daisy out, so if the series comes back and Harris is available, they can get her back.
Unlike what they did with Rube. I don’t watch Lost, so I’ve never heard of this Cusick guy, but he’s gone now so just a blip on the screen. If there are more movies or another series, either George is in charge or they’ll have another boss, and the fun may be in the casting, if they can get somebody really good.
I was glad to see what was up with Reggie, but I don’t think she should have so much prominence in the future. Very glad to see Dolores, and how is it Murray was even still alive *that *long?
My husband’s twisted theory?
Dolores has been dead all this time, knows exactly what “Millie” has been up to, and next time we see her, she’ll be handing out the Post-Its!
I just finished watching the movie. As someone who loved the TV series, I have three things to say about the movie.
I thought it was awful. If I had seen the movie before I saw the TV series, I never would have watched the series. I thought the movie was poorly plotted, poorly written, and pointless.
Ellen Muth was never a beauty, but in some of the scenes she looked like she had just come back from a two-week bender and went in front of the camera without going through makeup.
Does anyone think the movie was improved by all the unnecessary filthy language?
[spoiler]The story with George’s family, as always, was good - by far the best part of this movie. Reggie certainly has grown up!
The B-story, with the rest of the gang, sucked. The characters (the wonderful characters) were given nothing to do, and few good lines.
Happy Time must be doing well in this economy - more glass, huge new conference rooms. Crystal, as always, glowered over her cubicle wall. She really should have been given something else to do - an easy paycheck for Ms. Dahl. Good to see Delores again, and Murray (he’s, what, 20 now?), but, again, not a lot done with them.
I doubt Ellen Muth had collagen; her lips have always looked like that. When she was watching Reggie and Joy leave, they made her up to look like a supermodel, lip gloss, long blond hair blowing in the wind, etc. Pretty fine.
Finally, did all the Post-It notes come from the pile in Crystal’s closet?[/spoiler]
Eh, Murray’s not that old. It seems like Deloris said he was 12 or so during the series, when he was sick, so that would put him at 17. Which is quite elderly, to be sure, but not “how is he still alive” old. We got lots of kitty patients older than him.
The Bad: [spoiler] The new Daisy was weak and not pretty enough. An odd complaint from me as Daisy was probably my least like character on the series. But she really was a big step down. She was by far not the prettiest girl at Cameron’s party and that made his interaction with her seem odd. It did not make sense as strictly a power play over Daisy.
Roxy turned to the dark side far too easy. It seemed extremely out of character and she looked out of place and out of character at the party.
There were a couple of long boring parts that seemed to just fill this out to movie length.
The speech about being more efficient and increased work load was very hollow. They never more assignment, in fact they seem to have less. If they did have more and being that they showed Cameron had money to burn, he probably could have afforded to put them on full time Reaping. Instead it was just an empty speech that looked left over from a script change.
I miss Rube of course. He was the best actor by far in the show. [/spoiler]
The Good: [spoiler]I thought the Mom and Reggie was a good subplot. Reggie & George getting to talk was good.
Dolores probably had all the best comedy in the movie. She was superb as usual. I am looking forward to seeing her again as Reaper returns in early March.
It was good to see Crystal, I wish they could have done something more with her. Not a lot, but a little more.
Callum Blue is damn good. He appears to be the best actor of the Reapers.
The ending with the post-it notes raining down on Toilet-Seat-Girl was incredible and a great moment. If they get to make another movie it will be interesting seeing her in charge. [/spoiler]
So overall I thought the good outweighed the bad and I really enjoyed it.
One item that though me out of the movie., In the beauty parlor scene Roxy is present in her police uniform. When the reapee dies, the clerk shouts DIAL 911 and nobody cares as a police officer just gets up and walks away. Are reapers on duty invisible?
Talk about your pieces of shit. Mandy Patinkin was the soul of the show, and without him they shouldn’t have even tried. The appearance of Desmond (I’m sorry, he’ll always be Desmond) and his radical new way of doing things hinted at something bigger, some big machinations “behind the curtain”, but the movie never delivered.
The new Daisy took me completely out of it–I had to keep saying, “Oh, yeah–that’s supposed to be Daisy”.
The side bits were OK. I liked the interaction between the sullen teenage Reggie and her mom. (I wish they’d been a little snarkier about the way so many parents who have lost children think there’s a book in it.) My favorite parts were Deloris helping Murray enjoy his last days and his final sendoff. But overall it was horrible, and it didn’t improve on the previous unsatisfying ending.
That’s something that has always bugged me. They never made an attempt to explain how people could not be noticed talking to (what seemed to observers as) empty space. And they are not invisible, because they interact with the living in the moments leading up to the reaping.
Aww, hell. Maybe we see things from the reapers’ point of view, and are supposed to forget about how things are seen from the living point of view.
Daisy - Who knows how talented the actress is who played Daisy?
She had a tough assignment fitting into an ensemble cast and didn’t pull it off.
But I’m not ready to blame her. The writing seemed to be off too.
Roxie’s turning to the dark side so easily was totally out of character. Her main attribute is that she is a hardcore cynic and they blew right past that.
Rube- miss him big time but at least they didn’t try to sub his part.
Was the actress who played the waitress at the waffle shoppe not available? She always nailed her part and it was a nice setting for character interaction.
My guess is that Crystal, not Delores, is the next leader if a sequel happens.
What the hell was wrong with George’s hair style and her lips? They could have done a better job of camera angle and hair style and make up on Ellen. She looked alternately beautiful and ugly from shot to shot. That’s just not continuity.
I believe in the series its mentioned in passing as basically misdirection, as everyone is busy reacting to the person who just died, no-one notices someone walking away talking to themselves.
I do agree that a police officer walking from a scene of a death would be noticed and seen as totally uncharacteristic.
I wish they’d just had daisy leave then replace the actor, i mean its supposed to of been a few years, wouldn’t of been unbelievable to me that she’d either been transfered again or filled her quota.
was incredible and a great moment. If they get to make another movie it will be interesting seeing her in charge. [/spoiler]