As Good As It Gets

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

The Pardoner's Tale - that's the one where some ill-assorted characters get their hands on some free money (it usually ends with banknotes wafting away across the desert sands). I saw this ages ago and as far as I can recall nobody dies in a desert in this one, though the main characters don't end up living happily ever after on the dough (they never do). I do remember it being a wacky kind of road movie as short, plain Michael Emil and the other guy drive off with a fortune stuffed in their hub caps. They run into two girls in a motel who'd like to take some of those banknotes off them. I'll never forget one of the girls' favourite pickup line: "I think you're a really sweet person. Would you like to have sex with me?" Why didn't it catch on?

Fascinating characters, a beliveable rip-off plan, and a mixture of screwy but all-too-real personalities make Sitting Ducks a perfect "scam" movie. It's funny, exciting, a little sexy, and full of surprises. I've watched it over and over and will be watching it for a long, long time.