I love this movie so much

Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Just perfect...

It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.

I watched this film because someone whose opinions I respect told me it was terrible and I needed to see for myself. He was wrong. But not entirely.The acting, camera work, script, locations, sound track etc reflect decent production values and an honest intention on the part of the filmmakers, but on the other hand, the main characters are all pathetic losers (which is not the same as saying the acting is bad, which it isn't).There are some brilliant moments like when Jimmy discovers the dead guy on the sofa (and what he does next), and when we discover just who Steve is cheating with, and when Aaron chases his girlfriend out of the house as she escapes with her friend Carlos. But overall it looks like it's going nowhere...it seems pointless...like the lives of those it portrays.At first I was constantly trying to work out how the 4 threads were supposed to interconnect, but they really don't, not even at the end. It's just a day in the lives of 4 sets of people who happen to know each other and whose lives occasionally cross paths either on purpose or by chance as they go about what they have to do. When I realised that and simply watched it for what it was it got more interesting.Some reviewers have panned it for a 'contrived' final scene. I disagree. We have little clues all through that these characters have all known one another, at least in passing, for years and it should be no surprise that they go to the same parties together.This is not the kind of movie I would normally seek out but I'm glad I did.

Tom Zuber has great credentials in Law but seems to prefer to dabble in the territory of cinema. Having not seen his debut film LANSDOWN (2001) it is difficult to judge from LITTLE ATHENS (2005) if he is improving with age, but looking at LITTLE ATHENS on its own merits it seems a bit sparse in idea and in production.Athens, Arizona is the bleak setting of this day in the lives of some fairly bored (and boring) youngsters, ne're-do-wells attempting to infuse sparkle into an otherwise glitterless place. Zuber creates four story lines, spottily interweaves them, and finally connects the dots in the last reel. The main problem is that comedy is funny because we care about the facilitators and here there really aren't any folks in which to invest. The cast tries hard and succeeds in giving us a taste of life in the flatlands of nothingville. D.J. Qualls (a character type who is very good, as in 'Hustle and Flow'), Michael Pena, John Patrick Amedori, Shawn Hatosi, Tory Kittles, Eric Szmanda, Jorge Garcia, Erica Leerhsen, and Michelle Horn are particularly fine and do their best with the material they are given.Tom Zuber has a style, a sense of non-scripted spontaneity incorporating the gross with the sadsack, and given time he may make a fine little film. This one just misses. Grady Harp

Not the worst indie film I've ever seen.And it does have it's moments of being funny.Rachel Miner was DECENT as the best friend of Erika leerhsen's character where she's cheating with her cop boyfriend cause she's willing to give him anal sex that he so craves. Then you've got Jorge Garcia who is awesome on Lost but in this film just seem wasted as a character.It was stupid the way he'd speak Spanish words mixed in with mostly English.It's like he's trying to say "I'm Mexican though i look like a fat white dude."And, once again DJ Qualls gives a decent quirky character performance & once again shows why he's one of the truly ugliest actors I've ever seen. Is reminiscent of the party scene in Dazed & Confused but that film is wayyy better. Too dark in parts to see much of what's going on, i feel this film would've been better had they had less characters. ** out of *****

Was lucky enough to catch LITTLE ATHENS last night and think we're looking at an exciting young director. The film is constrained by its small budget but punches largely above its weight due to the ingenuity of its Zyber and the talent in the young, and I have to say, hot, cast.To compare it to the Outsiders perhaps puts too much weight on its shoulders and certainly the flavour is very different, but I felt like I was watching the beginning of a new set of burgeoning careers and it was tremendously exciting.If you have seen this film, please add your comments, I'd be very interested to read them.On a final note, the music on this project is phenomenal.(I work in the trade but have no affiliation to this film - to allay the fears of some of the other critics here).But don't listen to what I have to say, see it and make up your own mind.KilledCat