Our Feature Presentation

Author(s): Bryce
Location: CA

"Our Feature Presentation"

Directed by: Jason Reitman
Written by: Jason Reitman
Produced by: Georges Bermann, Michael London, and Peter Saraf

Main Cast

Anton Yelchin as Brian Long
Janeane Garofalo as Tracy Long
Greg Kinnear as George Long
Efren Ramirez as Kenneth Green
Kat Dennings as Nancy Robertson
Artie Lange as Coach Patterson
Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Cameron Brown
Ryan Cooley as Joe Fink

Tagline: "Life's a movie, please hit the stop button"

Synopsis: Since they were 5 years old, Brian Long, Kenneth Green, and Nancy Robertson have been best friends. Every since they were 5 they also have been making movies. Whether it be an adventure movie to find the golden spoon in their backyard, or a horror film about dust mites in the basement, they have been shooting films on their home video camcorder most of their lives. Brian and his friends are getting ready to graduate from their high school, and all of them have dreams to make it big in the film industry. Luckily for them, the town is holding it's first film festival. The movie that is crowned the best in the festival gets the chance to pitch their idea for a film to several major studio producers. This is an opportunity of a lifetime for Brian, Kenneth, and Nancy.

The only problem that seems to be in the way is writer's block. Brian and his friends wants to do something that will wow audience, and eventually wow the producers. Brian looks to his past for inspiration. He lives with his mother Tracy, who has been divorced to Brian's father, George Long, since Brian was four. Tracy is a preschool teacher and a struggling actress, while George is a traveling magician. They use to travel around the country together, doing magic and trying to find gigs. Brian always use to enjoy the stories he was told as a kid of how his mom and dad were always getting into wacky situations, and how their love began to develop. It seemed like a glamorous relationship, and he still wonders why the relationship never worked out.

That's it! Brian and his friends will take the stories that his mom and dad told him and adapt them into a movie, and who better to play his mom than his mom. Once Brian gets Coach Patterson, the town's drunk coach, to play his dad him and his friends begin shooting the film. Over the coarse of this film, Brian learns more than he wants to know about what was really happening between his mom and dad, and how they really felt about each other. Also, strangely, Tracy finds true love in an unexpected place, in the form of her co-star Coach Patterson. But the real problem will come in the form of competition. Around town, it appears everyone wants the chance to fulfill their own dreams, and Brian's competition is looking fierce; whether it's Cameron Brown's amazing special effects, or Joe Fink's amazing acting talent that he has gotten as a result of his father being a famous director, Brian's chances of winning is looking very thin.

The only question remaining is, who will win the top prize at the film festival?

What the Press would say:

With movies like "Juno", "Little Miss sunshine", "Knocked Up", and "Sideways" all having came out in recent years, it's safe to say the comedy genre is making a respectful return. "Our Feature Presentation" is the next great comedy to come out, and it proves that it might end up being the best one of the bunch. The laughs are there, the heart is there, but what separates this film from others is it's themes. Themes of how love can not be love, and the importance of friends. However, it isn't the themes themselves that make the movie special, but how they are delivered. How they all perfectly fit with each other, and how they all are powerfully able to effect the audience in a mental and emotional way.

The story surrounds a group of friends who want to make a movie based on the lead character's life in order to gain top prize at a film festival. The naughty words and sexual innuendos are replaced (although some is there) by smart-ass dialogue and hilarious situations. Speaking of the laughs, there is no funnier movie you'll see this year. The laughs are delivered effectively and timed perfectly enough for them to be longer lasting and stay within your mind long after the movie is done.

All the actors in the movie do an exceptional job. Anton Yelchin proves he can hold an emotional and hysterical movie by himself, and deliver on an equal effective level as some of Reitman's past leads. He's funny, he's confident, and he's definitely going to raise to the next level of his career because of this movie. The ture show stealer, however, is Janeane Garofalo. Her character is the most rememberable one out of the cast, and also the most relatable. Her words have so much more power in them when she is serious, and have an electric sting when there intended to be funny. It's the type of role that comes around once in awhile.

"Our Feature Presentation" is another great example of the great comedies coming out this decade, and it's one of the best of the year. I would recommend everyone to go see it in theaters, but I'm pretty sure mostly everyone is already in theaters, being treated to this gem.

Best Picture
Best Director- Jason Reitman
Best Actor- Anton Yelchin
Best Supporting Actress- Janeane Garofalo
Best Supporting Actor- Greg Kinnear
Best Original Screenplay- Jason Reitman
Best Film Editing