Highland Park

An Appealing Cast Sell A Pleasant Wish Fulfillment Fantasy, But The Movie Strives To Be Something More Important
My reaction to the well intentioned film "Highland Park" is somewhat confusing and even contradictory. I genuinely liked the movie and was entertained. It has a tremendously appealing cast of recognizable and talented character actors including Billy Burke, Danny Glover, Parker Posey, Michelle Forbes, Kimberly Elise, John Carroll Lynch, Deborah Ann Woll, Rockmond Dunbar, and Eric Laden. And there's a positive message about civic pride, team work, and loyalty. In significant ways, its many charms are hard to resist as a bit of fluffy wish fulfillment. On the other hand, to be very blunt, it's just so silly! It's been a long time since I've seen a movie so empty headed about politics and the financial crisis. It's a shame, too, because you can see that writer/director Andrew Meieren was attempting to make a substantial film fraught with meaning and importance. Anytime the screenplay attempted social critique, however, it simply didn't work in realistic terms. But in its more...

weak, ARTIFICIAL ending ruins film's authenticity and potential -- and Parker Posey underutilized
This could have been a good film, with strong themes and insights into human character. A group of struggling middle-class/blue collar types play the lotto every week, with the same numbers. After many years of losing, they finally WIN $250,000,000.

They begin dreaming of how to fix their lives -- and their school, library, and community! Relatives pressure them for handouts. Some of them play Santa Claus. Others cave in to public pressure to donate money.

Trouble is, they don't YET have the winning ticket...

SPOILER...

Then it turns out they did NOT win after all!

Danny Glover, who normally bought the ticket every week, picked different numbers this time around. He returns from his camping trip to find that all his friends are spending money they don't have. Now he must break the bad news to them.

Up till now, the film was a fairly decent, AUTHENTIC human drama. The sort independent films do best. But that didn't...

Highland Park the movie deserves a chance
It is a little slow moving and Parker Posey over acted. The script was a little weak, however the movie does entertain and Danny Glover and Billy Burke did a good job playing their roles. The story does take you on an emotional roller coaster. It is entertaining and worth watching.

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