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Movies / On DVD / Finding Amanda
Finding Amanda

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Finding Amanda (2008)

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Reviews Counted:40

Fresh:17

Rotten:23

Average Rating:5.2/10

Consensus: Despite a charming turn by Matthew Broderick, Finding Amanda is too flimsily executed to succeed as a dark comedy.

Rated: R [See Full Rating] for strong sexual content including graphic dialogue, pervasive language, drug content and brief nudity.

Runtime: 1 hr 36 mins

Genre: Comedies

Theatrical Release:Jun 27, 2008 Limited

Box Office: $31,340

Synopsis: From director Peter Tolan, creator of the hit television series Rescue Me, comes Finding Amanda, a hilarious and heartbreaking autobiographical comedy about the compulsions we can’t shake, and the... From director Peter Tolan, creator of the hit television series Rescue Me, comes Finding Amanda, a hilarious and heartbreaking autobiographical comedy about the compulsions we can’t shake, and the unlikely lengths we’ll go to while trying.

Taylor Mendon (Matthew Broderick) is a television writer and producer working on a low-rated, little-respected half-hour sitcom. Once destined for bigger and better things, Taylor's compulsive gambling, recreational drug use and drinking all conspired to throw his career off the rails. After kicking the alcohol and drugs, he only has one more hurdle...the horses.

His beautiful twenty - year old niece Amanda (Brittany Snow) has her own habit to kick. Living in Las Vegas, working as a "dancer," her family has just discovered she is actually a prostitute, and they suspect hooking for drug money.

On their way home from an emergency family meeting, Taylor's wife Lorraine (Maura Tierney) finds recent racing stubs in Taylor's glove compartment. After years of standing by him, she leaves.

Taylor comes up with a plan: he'll win back his wife by doing the right thing. He'll go to Las Vegas, find Amanda, and deliver her to a rehabilitation center in Malibu. While he’s at it, he might even catch up with some old friends (like slimy casino host Steve Coogan). But besides that, it’s strictly the business at hand—while he's there, he vows, he won't gamble a single cent, but things don’t turn out quite as he’d planned. --© Magnolia Films
[More]

Starring: Matthew Broderick, Brittany Snow, Maura Tierney, Peter Facinelli

Starring: Matthew Broderick, Brittany Snow, Maura Tierney, Peter Facinelli, Steve Coogan, Bill Fagerbakke

Director: Peter Tolan

Director: Peter Tolan
Screenwriter: Peter Tolan
Producer: Wayne Rice, Richard Heller
Composer: Christopher Tyng
Studio: Mitropoulos Films

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Release:

Sep 16, 2008

[DVD Details]
 
 
  • Taylor (Matthew Broderick) is a television writer and producer whose compulsive gambling, recreational drug use and drinking problem are jeopardizing his career and marriage. In a desperate attempt to save his marriage to Lorraine (Maura Tierney), he sets off to redeem himself by bringing home his 20 year old niece (Brittany Snow) who is living in Vegas and working as a prostitute. While there, he vows not to gamble a cent or drink a drop of alcohol. Alas, the best laid plans...
  • Source: Magnolia Home Entertainment
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    Reviews for Finding Amanda

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    This unromantic comedy is something less than a sure bet. For some reason, you get the impression that it doesn't live up to the promise of its premise.

    Full Review Source: Cinema Signals | comment 1 Comment
    07/04/08
    Jules Brenner
    Jules Brenner
    Cinema Signals

    Broderick’s sunny spin on the deeply flawed Taylor is interesting but eventually defies belief. In the third act, Finding Amanda loses steam altogether.

    Full Review Source: Ebert & Roeper | comment 1 Comment
    06/30/08
    Richard Roeper
    Richard Roeper
    Ebert & Roeper
    Top Critic Icon Top Critic

    This vulgar film, replete with vile language and graphic descriptions of sex acts, degrades our culture. Even George Carlin might find it offensive.

    Full Review Source: tonymedley.com | comment 1 Comment
    07/03/08
    Tony Medley
    Tony Medley
    tonymedley.com

    Click to read the article

    Full Review Source: St. Louis Post-Dispatch | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    St. Louis Post-Dispatch

    The familiar premise here has sharp fangs, unsparing wit and a knockout performance by Brittany Snow as the round-heeled 20-year-old.

    Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
    06/27/08
    Amy Nicholson
    Amy Nicholson
    Boxoffice Magazine

    Finding Amanda has its wispy charms, including a funny scene when the ecstasy Taylor pops begins to kick in, and later when he encounters a pimp with showbiz aspirations.

    Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
    06/26/08
    Ann Hornaday
    Ann Hornaday
    Washington Post

    Amanda is a generously funny, sharp-edged comedy with unusual promise, and to watch it grow a conscience when clearly the film needed more generous helpings of acid is one of the year's great mysteries.

    Full Review Source: BrianOrndorf.com | comment Comment
    06/26/08
    Brian Orndorf
    Brian Orndorf
    BrianOrndorf.com

    Amanda can never find a tone. It opens with a scene-reading (Taylor is a writer on a hacky TV show) that produces yawns, where our lead character is the only one that laughs. It's prophetic.

    Full Review Source: The Deadbolt | comment Comment
    06/27/08
    Brian Tallerico
    Brian Tallerico
    The Deadbolt

    The film's tone shifts jarringly from superficial broad comedy to something far darker. And the hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold scenario is as old as the profession itself.

    Full Review Source: USA Today | comment Comment
    06/26/08
    Claudia Puig
    Claudia Puig
    USA Today

    Too much of Peter Tolan's movie takes up Taylor's self-absorption as if it's actually interesting.

    Full Review Source: PopMatters | comment Comment
    06/27/08
    Cynthia Fuchs
    Cynthia Fuchs
    PopMatters

    Offers up some zinger lines in the trenches of Sin City but fails to live up to its ingenious concept.

    Full Review Source: Screen International | comment Comment
    10/18/08
    David D'Arcy
    David D'Arcy
    Screen International

    Hopelessly uneven yet admittedly entertaining...

    Full Review Source: Reel Film Reviews | comment Comment
    10/06/08
    David Nusair
    David Nusair
    Reel Film Reviews

    False, forced, familiar and often vulgar, especially in its language and depiction of certain characters.

    Full Review Source: Film Journal International | comment Comment
    06/18/08
    Doris Toumarkine
    Doris Toumarkine
    Film Journal International

    A fun look at Vegas that imbues the seediness of the setting with a sense of innocence and warmth that might take some by surprise.

    Full Review Source: ComingSoon.net | comment Comment
    06/24/08
    Edward Douglas
    Edward Douglas
    ComingSoon.net

    Tolan writes regularly for smart shows like Rescue Me, but his best instincts deserted him when he set his sights on the big screen for the first time.

    Full Review Source: New York Daily News | comment Comment
    06/27/08
    Elizabeth Weitzman
    Elizabeth Weitzman
    New York Daily News

    By keeping the tone light and the players human (Steve Coogan has a nice turn as a greasy casino host), and never, ever romanticizing the addict, Finding Amanda comes by its heartbreak honestly.

    Full Review Source: L.A. Weekly | comment Comment
    06/26/08
    Ella Taylor
    Ella Taylor
    L.A. Weekly

    ... they should've renamed this one Finding the Right Tone.

    Full Review Source: Cinematical | comment Comment
    05/15/08
    Erik Davis
    Erik Davis
    Cinematical

    A breakthrough for Brittany Snow who shows she can do much more than horrible remakes and teen comedies...

    Full Review Source: Cinema Crazed | comment Comment
    06/20/08
    Felix Vasquez Jr.
    Felix Vasquez Jr.
    Cinema Crazed

    Writer-director Peter Tolan has glibness down pat, but can't quite wring the intended pathos from his characters' desperate lives. He does, however, give Broderick his best part since Election.

    Full Review Source: Los Angeles Daily News | comment Comment
    06/27/08
    Glenn Whipp
    Glenn Whipp
    Los Angeles Daily News

    Spot-on casting of Brittany Snow in the title role makes the fun movie with a serious turn both entertaining and credible.

    Full Review Source: Compuserve | comment Comment
    06/10/08
    Harvey S. Karten
    Harvey S. Karten
    Compuserve
     
     
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