Steinesongo Too many fans seem to be blown away
Greenes Please don't spend money on this.
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
BeSummers Funny, strange, confrontational and subversive, this is one of the most interesting experiences you'll have at the cinema this year.
Christopher T. Chase You know those indie flicks that make you want to cringe? The ones where from the opening frame, you get the feeling the cast is only doing this because they owed a really, REALLY big favor to the director, the producers or somebody else connected with the production? In spite of some interesting editing choices made in the opening sequence of JAM, that's exactly what it feels like. Which is the bad news.So what's the GOOD news?Well, if favors were called in for this one, THANK GOD THEY WERE, because I couldn't believe the parade of actors as they were introduced. Marianne-Jean Baptiste? William Forsythe? Gina Torres? Alex Rocco? Tess Harper? Jeffrey Dean Morgan??? I had to ask myself in-between double takes: "Who IS this Craig Serling guy?"Well, he's damned lucky, for one thing. Though it was made and released in 2006, it has the retro-look and feel of a movie made on the cheap back in the mid-'70's...which might have been the feel that Serling was going for. On a rural road on the outskirts of Los Angeles (at least that's where I guessed it was), a cellist (Baptiste) on her way to a concert date swerves to avoid hitting a stray dog. She gets rear-ended by a guy (Forsythe) and his son, a telephone pole gets knocked over...let's just say it's the mess that starts the whole movie. Over time, we get to meet the people who inhabit the cars stuck in this jam: a bride-to-be with her two best friends and bridesmaids; a divorced dad (Morgan) spending his visitation day with his kids; a lesbian couple (one of whom is played by Torres) who are expecting their baby to come along at any moment, and a pair of ne'er-do-well crooks in a stolen RV, trying to break into a stolen ATM machine. And let's not leave out the cool elderly couple (Rocco and Harper) taking it all in stride. The script is strictly paint-by-numbers, with conflicts and clashes that feel contrived - especially since with this kind of movie, you just KNOW that everything will somehow work out in the end. But compensating somewhat for what the script lacks, is the pleasure of watching some very talented actors 'spin gold from straw' and make it look effortless. Forsythe and Morgan shine especially as two struggling fathers in similar yet different situations...trying to deal with circumstances they can do nothing to change, while trying to stay connected to the people who mean the most to them.Yes, this is all very 'Lifetime' movie-style stuff, and there's really nothing here to offer any kind of a challenge. It certainly isn't NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN, which Harper is really good in, or even LADY IN WHITE, which features one of Rocco's best performances. But it's an inoffensive time-waster at the very least, good for vegging out to until the next great movie comes on another channel you can turn to.
mainecoon50 This had 'Lifetime Channel' written all over it. I expected something a little more edgy. Like 'Crash'. As the movie goes along the conflicts develop, smolder, and erupt. But in the last fifteen minutes everything is happily resolved. All the uncomfortable, violent hatreds and bitter resentments dissolve. The bad old car thieves are shown to be just a pair of softies. The angry son and his alcoholic father share a tearful embrace. The three jealous friends who boffed, or were boffed, by the same guy are somewhat reconciled upon revelation of a mildly amusing bit of irony. The audience is allowed to breathe a collective 'Aaaaaahhhhh' of satisfaction. Everything turns out just as it should. In other words, like it never really turns out. I stayed with this film because of the direction, but I ended up watching a cinematic Hallmark card. No doubt this will appeal to a significant audience, but it's not the sort film that appeals to me.
no_spm_brazil After seeing so many mediocre movies in a row, this was definitely a breath of fresh air. To describe it I would say it's one of those off-beat films not driven by a plot but by characters. It reminded me a lot of The Breakfast Club in more ways than one.As far as the actors, all of them were great and their characters were well defined and easy to relate to. In Fact, another movie to compare this to might be Glengary Glen Ross. It's not the story but the cast that make these films fun to watch. Jam had a great cast.While I just compared Jam to two classics, I wouldn't necessarily rank it in that category, but I do think it certainly deserves better than it's current IMDb ranking of 5.3. I give it an 8.
BH5000 I saw this at the Boston Film Festival and it's quite a good movie. It has lots going for it, especially two things: A strong ensemble cast with favorites like Tess Harper and William Forsythe, made even stronger by the solid Amanda Detmer, who has charisma galore, and the sexy Jeffery Dean Morgan. Rrrrrrrrrrrr. Secondly, it shows strong work by first-time feature director, Craig Serling. His directing is confident and efficient and watchable. His background in editing pays off here in his deft storytelling. Juggling so many story lines couldn't have been easy.At turns funny and poignant, it was a crowd pleaser at the festival with good reason.
