Small Engine Repair

This movie should get more exposure. It's easily of the most underrated movies of 2021. It's dialogue heavy and the banters are hilarious between the 3 friends. They have a great chemistry and it keeps u hook until the end. The story is also engaging. Plus Jon bernthal is always a plus!

I was hesitant to watch this after reading a few of the negative reviews, but then I remembered we live in a hypersensitive cancel culture, so a majority of the negative reviews were easily dismissed. I'll just leave it at this....if you thought the trailer was interesting, then watch the movie. The trailer doesn't give away the movie, and the story evolves so well. Oh and the acting was down right incredible!

Outstanding film. Spot on production, captures "Live Free or Die" New Hampshire city life well. The acting was outstanding. It's very well written, very funny at times, with a looming sense of potential heartbreak. The bond of lifelong best friends and family gives it the wholesome soul throughout the film, but when the heartbreak eventually comes it turns to anger and vengeance. Only problem I had with it was it left me feeling like the right thing was done but lacked the justice I hoped to get for the family. Other than that it was a beautiful and very emotional film.

Read through some of the more negative reviews and a common interpretation emerges; a tale of toxic masculinity. This is really a story of childhood shared amongst three best friends who eventually grow up to help raise one the three's daughter through tough times. It's a tale of unwavering support by friends through the darkest days from childhood to adulthood. We all have those friends that would do anything for us and us for them, it's something boys cherish and men hold on to. It's a story of that. Watch this with an open mind, a sense of dark humor, and some humility; yes, it may offend you at times, but appreciate that some actions change lives forever and that some loyalties run thicker than blood shared but rather blood spilled.

I enjoyed this movie even though I do not enjoy slow moving movies this one was ok. Definitely worth the time, but be your own judge and watch it. The acting was on point and it was a bit sad. Spoiler---> The dog dies but he went out with a bang in being in this movie. I wish I could be in a movie before I die! R. I. P Boss.

John Pollono's Small Engine Repair might have been shocking, clever, or surprising a decade ago, as it's glued so heavily to social media and millennial vs. Old school modes of thought. Today, though, all that novelty is gone and what is left is not substantial in either dialogue or emotional heft to garner any sort of engagement with audiences not satisfied with surface "thrills". I will only say the "shocking twist" is very enmeshed in Web Culture but even if you subtract that angle, it's not something you don't see coming. More accurately, you "don't want" to see it coming because it's been done to death, and in films much older than the Internet. You keep hoping Pollono's a better writer than that, but he's just not. That isn't to say his performance, and that of the rest of the cast, aren't very good to excellent in spots, but his script never goes deep enough to generate any genuine engagement through plot or surprising character development. Small Engine Repair, despite having a great title, is about as deep as a wading pool. It revolves around three best friends from childhood, stuck in the same New Hampshire small town, whose bad behavior and generally idiocy keep them trapped in various man-child modes of entropy. They blow up at each other frequently, raz each other pitilessly, then one day Pollono's character calls them together for a celebratory night after a period of estrangement that takes several dark violent turns. Who did Pollono write this for? It's an odd blend of a Reservoir Dogs-esque crime thriller and a wannabe David Mamet takedown on toxic masculinity. But Dogs brought action and surprising plot/structure, not to mention sharp memorable dialogue, certainly not at a Mamet level of rhythmic brilliance and cadence. The biggest problem with "Repair" is that none of the characters are remotely original or appealing, nor are their plights. They're pretty much stereotypes of lower-class men stuck in the same poverty-driven cycle of a tech-driven world that's passed them by. Do you *really* want to spend onscreen-time with guys who routinely go to jail, make off-color gay jokes, get in bar fights, have the active interests of 12-year olds, and can't even think of creative insults for one another? These guys aren't exotic, they're just boring. The whole film feels "forced" as in "this is the way we are, and aren't we honest for exposing our bland subculture, warts and all"? Maybe it *is* "real" but it doesn't make the movie any more appealing. Despite what others have said about it being talky... there really isn't ENOUGH dialogue in this movie (or enough good dialogue) to generate honest tension or to make you think these guys are above lunkhead- level. You don't have to have affluent characters for them to be intriguing. Look at the interest Michael Cimino stoked in the very brief scenes "back home" in the Deer Hunter. Those guys weren't going to set the world on fire either, but they were about 30 times more complex than the guys in Small Engine Repair. Yeah, I know the actors were world class but the guys in "Repair" aren't bad actors. On the opposite social spectrum end, the character of Chad isn't fleshed out well, either. As with the rest of the cast, I'm sure there are tons of rich frat boys that are this vapid, but wouldn't it have been interesting if at least one person transcended the stereotype? Someone unexpected would have been even better. But none do, and what's most irritating is that the large studio producers behind this movie that thought it worthy enough to film, probably love it because it confirms those trashy cut-outs of "these people" in their minds. In that respect, it shares a lot of bad karma with movies like The Boondock Saints which tried to rip-off Tarantino without going the extra mile by giving us an original plot or unforgettable people --- not people to root for, just people that you care about, enough to not bore you to death.

I saw "Small Engine Repair", starring John Pollono-Stronger, Fight Your Way Out; Jon Bernthal-Ford v Ferrari, The Punisher_tv; Ciara Bravo-Cherry, Neighbors 2:Sorority Rising and Spencer House-Teenage Bounty Hunters_tv, Space Force_tv. This is a surprisingly good movie that is based on a play by the lead actor, John Pollono. John also wrote and directed the movie. I said surprisingly good because I wasn't expecting too much-I hadn't heard much about it-and it had a couple of good twists. John plays the father of Ciara, a young girl about to enter college. John owns a small engine repair shop in New Jersey and has been raising her on his own-he is divorced-with the help of a couple of his best buds, Jon being one of them. When something bad happens to Ciara, John decides to take justice into his own hands and looks up Spencer, a college kid that might know some things that would help John dish out some payback. And of course, John enlists his buddies to help. The first part of the movie is on the lighter side-getting to know John and his buddies-but the last half turns pretty dark. It does end on a satisfying note, though. It's rated "R" for violence, language, drug use and sexual content-including partial nudity-and has a running time of 1 hour & 43 minutes. I don't know if I would buy it on DVD but it would be a good rental.

Fantastic film. A well-written, tremendously acted, character driven film. Written/Directed and Starring John Pollono and featuring Shea Whigham and Jon Bernthal ( not only two of my favorite actors but also two of the best working actors today). Outstanding work by everyone involved. I definitely recommend this film and I hope it will get the attention it deserves! 👏👏

I didn't know anything about this movie beforehand, only seeing it in the theater list the day before but the trailer seemed decent and I'm a fan of Bernthal. AMC had it listed as a "thriller" instead of "comedy" so that also played a big part into deciding to see it. Really not much to say other than I thought the drama on point and you really get a good feeling of the character's histories and friendship. It is 100% dialogue heavy so you have to pay attention to get that info, so if that's not your thing then don't bother. The biggest drawback is that the actual "thriller" part of the story doesn't occur until well after an hour or so and then the movie is over in practically a flash. It's not so bad as everything before it was great but I would've liked to have seen it have a larger role. Plus you can immediately tell what the twist is as soon as a certain character is introduced so the impact doesn't come off strong. I'm glad I took a chance on this and hope it gets more exposure.

Of filmaking, plotmaking and directing and last but not least a perfect playtime. Its a film about mammaes gone viral, all initiated by a 19 yrs old daddy is a billionaire boy, and the symbolism of eternal friendship is when Dickie Wiener points out a hole in the plan with the help of instagram that may give solace and courage to start living again for the three muskutarian friends and mammaes's mum. So what the h..k happens in this movie i wont tell just say it in entertaining, a inchy bit gory , and filled with a revenge youd never expect. So eternal friendship from crib to grave is alpha and omega for every humanoid on the planet called earth, you wanna learn how, take the grumpy old mans advice and have a look, supreme and yet unbelieveably basic.