Authors Anonymous

"This group really is all for one and one for all." Hannah Rinaldi (Cuoco) has just been accepted into a writer's group. The group is full of aspiring writers who are all excellent…in their own minds. Each writer is trying to make their own path to stardom and being published. When Hannah gets a break the rest of the group becomes jealous and the real personalities are shown. I have to start by saying that I thought this was very funny and I laughed a lot, on the other hand though this is not for everyone. The movie is a "mock-umentary" and is very much like Best In Show or Mighty Wind. The humor is for a select group but if you are into this type of comedy you will love this movie. Each character is funny but Dennis Farina's Tom Clancy type character really steals the movie and this is worth watching just for him. Overall, very very funny but again, for a select group of people. If you like the Christopher Guest improv movies like Best In Show you will like this. I laughed a lot. I give this a B+.

I'm a frustrated writer. I have written a lot of articles and feature stories of various topic, but I never began to write even one page of my first novel. At first, I don't know. The first few minutes of the film seem boring and an effort to watch. But as soon as you get to know all of the characters, it becomes interesting. The characters come from actual people or experience as far as I can tell. I, at least, identify with three of them. This film is a writer's movie and it gives one a glaring lesson for all who want to be a published author.

If you're a writer, know one, or just want to find out what goes on in a crazy, dysfunctional writer's group, Authors Anonymous is the film for you. With a wonderful central performance by Kaley Cuoco and an excellent cast that keeps the story zipping right along, Authors Anonymous is great fun from start to finish. First time screenwriter, Dave Congalton, has fashioned a hilarious romp that's a definite audience pleaser. Dennis Farina, in his last screen role, is hilarious and Teri Polo is another standout in the excellent cast. I've been following Jonathan Banks since TV's Falcon Crest days and his deadpan delivery can't be beat. Run to your theaters and catch this zany indie. You'll be glad you did. Somehow ten stars doesn't seem enough!

In the Los Angeles area, Henry (Chris Klein) delivers pizzas and cleans carpets. Once a promising football star who won a college scholarship, injuries turned him in a new direction. Now, he aspires to be a famous writer and goes regularly to the place where F. Scott died, for he greatly admires our creator of The Great Gatsby. To further his cause, he has joined a "writing group" who pledges to lift each other up in the hopes of future publishing. Among the ragtag groups is an eye doctor (Dylan Walsh) who started the group to support his lovely wife (Teri Polo) who is writing a Russian romance. Also attending regularly are a pretentious young hotshot, who writes a mere sentence at a time, a wannabe Tom Clancy, John (Dennis Farina) who KNOWS he has what it takes and beautiful Hannah (Kaley Cuoco) who seems a bit dim, never having heard of some of the world's top authors. Mysteriously, Henry is in love with Hannah, although she is not an intellectual like him, and he has developed writer's block as a result of his unrequited love. Amid book launches at hardware stores, secret affairs, and desperate attempts to garner agents, who will be the first to make it big? This DARLING film is a winner on many fronts. it is funny, romantic, and spot on in its analysis of would be writers. The cast is wonderful, especially Farina who gave one of his last great comic turns. Viewers will also like the great sets, mighty nice costumes, lovable script and very fine direction. What a would have given to see this terrific film in a big screen setting!

This film does not need to be endured, when the synopsis will do. I cannot understand the positive reviews and will leave their existence to the people who search for Bigfoot, and the Loch Ness Monster. Mysterious, indeed. This film contains some pretty unnerving subtext, and is not at all what I would expect from a romantic comedy. That SHOULD have made it interesting. It's a snore. I assure you that this is not one of those movies that is so bad it's good. It does provide material for a potentially hilarious future film about the man who gave us this turkey. Or perhaps, a good horror film. Robin Williams could play the lead, convincingly. He'd be portraying David Congalton, the man responsible for this incoherent (not in a good way) tangential journey through the world of "real authors" vs "instant celebrities" who have not earned their success...and the men who love them? It is truly confusing, (not in a good way) to see the lead character (based on Congalton) mooning over Cuoco's cheery, inept, undeserving, bubble- headed blonde. Why would such a learned man fall for a girl with a heart of gold and the IQ of an eggplant? Duh. She's young and she is beautiful. And she looks up to him. Double sigh. How romantic...NOT. It was repulsive. So, one of the plot devices designed to hold your interest to the end, simply gives you the vague creeps. You can always watch a truly creepy film, something like "24 Hour Photo", if you want the creeps. Why settle for a whiff of the creeps if you are into creepy movies? And why would you want a whiff of the creeps from the protagonist of a romantic comedy? This movie made me cringe a little. Not enough to make it interesting, just enough to make it icky. One ends the film with the disturbing feeling that one has just wasted their time on an inside joke and vendetta that lives in the head of one other person. Congalton fancies himself a real author, and apparently above his audience, in this film. But if you research what he has written and had published, you can't help but feel like you just saw an autobiographical rant at your expense, by a writer who somehow got his hands on enough money to make his own revenge movie. He makes the audience suffer. Perhaps he was writing a great revenge flick for all of those frustrated authors out there, who can't get read due to the overnight success of hacks who don't have one half their talents or insights. This film made my mind wander to other films, other directors and other ideas for movies. That CANNOT be a sign of a good movie. Based on the reviews, I expected something that would at least hold my attention. This movie starts slow, and goes downhill from there. It is a bitter pill. Whatever you are expecting from these positive reviews, I don't see how you could not be disappointed, and annoyed. I hope I just saved you over an hour of your precious time. Go do a random act of kindness with it, and maybe this movie will not have been made in vain.

This movie literally made me want to blow my own brains out a number of times, no joke these people are just so completely unlikable. I guess that is the point though, and you will only understand if you stay till the end, and let the credits roll just a bit for the finish that actually makes the torture of enduring these pompous fools worth your time. The acting is all really top notch, and what you basically get is a Waiting for Guffman idea with a really badly matched book club. Hard to recommend this movie though as it really is so painful to Enjoy or experience, and I know that is all to the credit of the writers, and actors involved in creating this so I want to make sure they get all the credit, but ouch I feel like you hear tell people feel after a long mule ride through the canyons. The magic invisible camera crews, and the many angles are just dizzying. There is no way that this is supposed to be funny, it is supposed to be ironic, and boy is it. So I throw it to you with my hands up, this is not going to be the worst movie that you ever watched by accident. It is supposed to be like that.

This is one of those little gems of a movie that belongs on any writer's list. At one time or another, each of these characters has been me. (I was cute and young and sexy once...maybe not as cute as Kaley Cuoco or as sexy as Dennis Farina, but still...) "Authors" swipes at issues that most writers face. Dennis Farina is simply wonderful, and the film makes me miss this fine actor enormously. "Authors" should be required watching in all creative writing classes, especially for young and/or beginning writers. With humor, wit and poignancy, writer Congalton spotlights feelings that are ripe for deeper discussion, such as writers' block, insecurity, envy, and the unanswerable question: what makes a writer a writer? Success? Persistence? Work? A more accessible movie than Kaufman's fierce "Adaptation," this movie has less...what are they called again? (Oh, right: metaphors!) Still the film made me laugh and cry. To me, Teri Polo gives the most visceral performance. The "rich wife" thing was often funny, but Polo really shines in a solo scene that occurs right after she explodes at Hannah outside a bookstore, with the group. Home alone, sitting with vodka, the slightly stewed and slightly remorseful Colette (Polo) tries to behave better by referring to Hannah (Cuoco) as a "good girl" -- but then her raw feelings flare, and Colette rages at how unfair life is. I have been there, Colette. I salute you. You want an excuse NOT to write this afternoon? watch "Authors Anonymous."

I haven't laughed out loud at a movie for a long time. The comedic exaggeration of the characters was delightful and brought back vivid memories of my former southern California writers group – a highly diverse, multi-talented group that, as in this film, included published, unpublished and self-published aspiring writers, all with their own eccentricities and quirky personalities that sometimes clashed and sometimes led to indiscretions. I enjoyed the witty dialogue and the engaging performances from this ensemble cast – especially the talented Dennis Farina. I found the film funny and thought provoking. It stayed with me long after I left the theater. Sometimes caricature is the best way to reveal truth. Now I'm going to track down my old writer friends and recommend this movie!

Several months earlier I'd seen clips of this film which promised, laughter, pathos, and generally good fun. Now that I've seen the movie I can honestly say that it delivered on all this- and more, much more. The characters are memorable, the story breezes along at a nice pace with humorous dialog mixed at times with poignant drama that lingers with you. An excellent film is a combination of many elements, and this film has the best of them: great directing by Ellie Kanner, who has demonstrated in A.A. that she really understands comedy; a wonderful cast headed up by the talented Kaley Cuoco and Chris Klein- a thinking man's Woody Allen; and a screenplay by Dave Congalton which scores on all levels. The pacing is great, as was the comic timing, and photographic wise the film looked rich and beautiful- utilizing the Southern California locations to their maximum. A must see film.

Author's Anonymous introduces you to a group of writers searching for that agent or publisher. I liked this film. The film is fun with quirky characters, a great ensemble cast, fast-paced scenes, and what most I think I liked most about it...it had what most comedies comedies lack today, a life lesson. I think it is one of these films you enjoy the first time through for the quirkiness the of characters.Then you watch again for the layers of personality that emerge in each character. They are funny, but not silly. There is idiotic behavior that is common human behavior....OK,stretched to the max in most cases. You probably know people like this and they probably aren't all writers. They don't have to be. People interacting with each other have their likes and dislikes and act this way. And writers, there are rules in critique groups. You just might learn what to do...or not to do. It wasn't the best movie I've ever seen in my life, but it will be one I'll watch again...and again.