Review of Very Bad Things (1998) by Gnarles — 19 Oct 2005

It's a near-classic - as long as you have the guts to watch it on its own terms and resist the urge to twist and contort it into something else. The lesser critics who beat this up for its "nihilism" and "grossness" appear to be painfully unaware that their line of inflated, pompous thinking is the real thing being ripped to pieces in "Very Bad Things".

Or maybe they DO realize it, and their dumb reviews are their protection. At any rate, it took major guts to craft a movie like this and I admire Berg for having them. Doesn't always work, but there are two amazing scenes for every bad one.

Slater is sensational, a pitch-perfect parody of male self-help postivite thinking gone terribly wrong. Too bad it's so far been his last good performance. See Very Bad Things. Don't judge. Just watch.