Pretty Good

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

It's funny watching the elements come together in this complicated scam. On one hand, the set-up isn't quite as complex as it seems, but there's an easy sense of fun in every exchange.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

these are your typical hustler wannabees. it's funny to those of us familiar with the undesirable types of new york city. for the low budget this film presumably has, we can appreciate it for fulfilling it's purpose. burt young plays a guy who is similar to what his character of paulie in the rocky series would have turned out like if rocky did not make it big and break him off. norman ( David herman ) plays the typical poser trying to embellish his way into hook-ups with woman out of his league. his attempted conquest is a little prudish that we have all met and wasted our time on. if anything this film will appeal to the fans of "waiting" although make you laugh in a different way.

Four men, displeased with the overcrowded, under lit and noisy night club where they gather, decide to pool their funds in order to open a bar and grill, taking with them from their old hangout two favoured employees, bartender Freddie (Kohl Suddeth) and doorman Xavier (Luis Guzmán), but the entrepreneurs soon learn that the success toward which they look forward is elusive. Because their original seed funding - $100,000 - is insufficient, Freddie persuades a family member, mobster Frankie "Chips" (Bert Young), to contribute a matching amount, but after a successful opening night, the business suffers a sharp dip in receipts. The quartet is then forced to yield to a suggestion from Frankie that their type of operation be changed to an adult cabaret featuring topless dancers and, despite the vigorous objections from one of the original partners, played by a rather hammy David Herman, the new operation becomes an immediate hit, although there are expected comedic complications. The actors are well cast for the texture established by first time director Michael Bregman and the film is shot in great part at the Lucerne Hotel and its Wilson's Grill and Bar in New York City's upper West Side, while Kohl, Michael Rooker, and Guzmán give notably strong performances, the latter smoothly handling a voice-over track. Bregman's background in television is plainly apparent throughout the piece, particularly pertinent to editing. A highly episodic work, it is smoothly constructed and it is obvious that all involved have a good time along the way, with the salad of subplots blended into a film having about it a feeling of good nature.

This was a pain to sit through, and you'll find it quite trying for every mind numbingly uncool moment in this movie of supposedly "cool" guys. The acting all around is embarrassing (even great character actor Guzman is uncharacteristically inept here) and the production values are distractingly cheap. Perhapd most irritating here is the usually funny David Herman (Office Space) who portrays one of the most obnoxious lead characters of any genre in a long time. Stephen Baldwin breezes in and out coasting on the fumes of his once great charisma to collect his paycheck and look smug. This is recommended only as an endurance test for masochistic viewers hell bent on finishing any movie they start (and I guess in this case I am one of the troubled few). This type of film has been done better ("MADE" by Jon Favreau, lesser similar but just similar enough "SWINGERS" and "FREE ENTERPRISE") so why not watch one of those instead?

"Table One" tells of bunch of guys who go partners in a trendy restaurant with the hope that it will help them connect with available women. The motley crew involves the usual diversity required for comic relief (a gay guy, a gangster guy, a sports guy, a wacky guy, a straight man, etc) while 95% of the run takes place in the restaurant with the story moving from one sitcom scene to another. Uninspired, ordinary fare which is busily relaxed in its approach to comedy, "Table One" has little to fault and little to praise. A reasonably pleasant couch potato diversion. (C+)