37 reviews
Completely falls apart in the third act
Here's a film I knew very little, if anything, about going in, found utterly compelling in the beginning, thoroughly intriguing in the middle and completely frustrated at the end as the story veered off so wildly in the third act.
That's not to say "Sorry, Haters" isn't a fascinating movie to see.
The main reason to see this is Robin Wright Penn's mesmerizing performance as a woman - Phoebe - who just keeps twisting and turning our expectations of who she is. Watching Phoebe come undone while Penn keeps her completely rational makes the character that more frightening.
Abdel Kechiche - as Ashade, a Syrian chemist working as a New York cab driver and trying to get his brother out of Gitmo - is so believable in the role. You don't doubt his anger and frustration at what's going on and you can understand why he he is who he is.
Writer-director Jeff Stanzler provides an interesting landscape of post-9/11 America. He also provides one of the scariest rationalizations a character can provide for that horrible day.
Stanzler doesn't let us get all that comfortable with the story and throws in a doozy of a twist in the middle. We never see it coming and it just makes the film that much stronger and powerful.
But then comes the denouement.
It's almost as if Stanzler just had no idea how to end his film given the circumstances in which he had placed his two leading characters. So he devises this rather ludicrous change that takes the story completely off-kilter. He just keeps going and you can sense the story going off-track. But Stanzler doesn't seem to mind and, ultimately, the film veers off course and winds up with an utterly preposterous and unconvincing finale. I was never looking for something happy; I just wanted something that I could believe.
That's not to say "Sorry, Haters" isn't a fascinating movie to see.
The main reason to see this is Robin Wright Penn's mesmerizing performance as a woman - Phoebe - who just keeps twisting and turning our expectations of who she is. Watching Phoebe come undone while Penn keeps her completely rational makes the character that more frightening.
Abdel Kechiche - as Ashade, a Syrian chemist working as a New York cab driver and trying to get his brother out of Gitmo - is so believable in the role. You don't doubt his anger and frustration at what's going on and you can understand why he he is who he is.
Writer-director Jeff Stanzler provides an interesting landscape of post-9/11 America. He also provides one of the scariest rationalizations a character can provide for that horrible day.
Stanzler doesn't let us get all that comfortable with the story and throws in a doozy of a twist in the middle. We never see it coming and it just makes the film that much stronger and powerful.
But then comes the denouement.
It's almost as if Stanzler just had no idea how to end his film given the circumstances in which he had placed his two leading characters. So he devises this rather ludicrous change that takes the story completely off-kilter. He just keeps going and you can sense the story going off-track. But Stanzler doesn't seem to mind and, ultimately, the film veers off course and winds up with an utterly preposterous and unconvincing finale. I was never looking for something happy; I just wanted something that I could believe.
Under the radar, and for good reasons, but not for lack of trying...
Sorry, Haters (2005)
An emotionally intense but cinematically thin movie. I'm not sure where that leaves a viewer--I think it depends on what you want from a movie. The theme is ripe. An immigrant (a Muslim) with immigration problems meets a troubled woman (played by Robin Wright Penn) who abuses his situation. At it's most intense and personal it's moving and disturbing, and sad, if such terrible drama can just be plain old sad.
But there are improbabilities (including the way their first meeting in a cab becomes very personal, with another woman and her child, in the blink of an eye). And there is a kind of plainness to it all, the writing, the filming, the story itself, that is linear and not quite enough to keep it going. It's true, I think, that being low budget was not an issue, but even within the style it was filmed, there might have been a better sense of camera-work and editing. The one thing that pushes forward best is the acting, often conspicuous for exceeding the writing. Director and writer Jeff Stanzer deserves a nod for trying, but he's only taken this half way, was a movie.
Do I recommend this? I think only if you like Penn, like indie films about serious contemporary issues regardless of quality, or if you are interested in the theme of Muslim integration and devotion to not being integrated. It might surprise some people with its honesty and tenderness, between the long lulls. But others will sense, in the first twenty minutes, the tone of the whole movie, and might back out. For those latter, the ending is an intense surprise, and disturbing to the point of demented, so there is a need, perhaps, to stick it out, just for that five minutes. But then again, maybe not.
An emotionally intense but cinematically thin movie. I'm not sure where that leaves a viewer--I think it depends on what you want from a movie. The theme is ripe. An immigrant (a Muslim) with immigration problems meets a troubled woman (played by Robin Wright Penn) who abuses his situation. At it's most intense and personal it's moving and disturbing, and sad, if such terrible drama can just be plain old sad.
But there are improbabilities (including the way their first meeting in a cab becomes very personal, with another woman and her child, in the blink of an eye). And there is a kind of plainness to it all, the writing, the filming, the story itself, that is linear and not quite enough to keep it going. It's true, I think, that being low budget was not an issue, but even within the style it was filmed, there might have been a better sense of camera-work and editing. The one thing that pushes forward best is the acting, often conspicuous for exceeding the writing. Director and writer Jeff Stanzer deserves a nod for trying, but he's only taken this half way, was a movie.
Do I recommend this? I think only if you like Penn, like indie films about serious contemporary issues regardless of quality, or if you are interested in the theme of Muslim integration and devotion to not being integrated. It might surprise some people with its honesty and tenderness, between the long lulls. But others will sense, in the first twenty minutes, the tone of the whole movie, and might back out. For those latter, the ending is an intense surprise, and disturbing to the point of demented, so there is a need, perhaps, to stick it out, just for that five minutes. But then again, maybe not.
- secondtake
- Feb 8, 2011
- Permalink
What's the Point?
This is a film about Ashade, a Syrian chemist who drives a cab in New York, and a woman who works for a TV station, and 9/11. I hesitate to say more about the characters or plot, because all of them are complex and tricky, and saying any more would lessen your experience.
What I can tell you is that the plot has a fascinating Hitchcockian twist in the middle, and an ending just about no one sees coming.
On the other hand, watching a film about Moslems, terrorism, and one truly nasty white girl left me immensely depressed. I wasn't seeing any light at the end of the tunnel, no shining sanity anywhere. Maybe that was the point.
The screening I saw featured the director/writer afterwards for Q&A, but I was so bummed, I just fled the theatre. Not a bad film per se, but disturbing and dark.
What I can tell you is that the plot has a fascinating Hitchcockian twist in the middle, and an ending just about no one sees coming.
On the other hand, watching a film about Moslems, terrorism, and one truly nasty white girl left me immensely depressed. I wasn't seeing any light at the end of the tunnel, no shining sanity anywhere. Maybe that was the point.
The screening I saw featured the director/writer afterwards for Q&A, but I was so bummed, I just fled the theatre. Not a bad film per se, but disturbing and dark.
Robin Wright etches a haunting portrait
This is one very riveting psychological drama that just continues to evolve it's statement of purpose throughout the well plotted piece. Working on a tiny budget, this film was shot on less expensive equipment in merely 15 days, but the movie still manages to be about as relevant and fresh as is possible in a post 9/11 context. The hopefully soon-to-be-known Jeff Stanzler weaves into his tiny project about a mysterious, bitter divorcée and a humble Arabic cab driver, the psychological micro and macro-cosmos revolving around the current political climate viewed through an emotionally unstable context. Truly tough to describe the profound themes examined and revealed in this movie without taking away from the wonderful grace which with those plot devices are announced, but we can definitely assume that the two lead performers do an extraordinary job at keeping the material grounded and relative, however irrational the final result may be- it is nonetheless strikingly potent, and an all too rare refresher into the darkness and secrets one mind may be able to harbor while always looking the other way in front of a population.
- oneloveall
- Aug 6, 2006
- Permalink
Hope and Prejudice
In New York, the Muslin taxi driver Ashade (Abdellatif Kechiche) drives a woman (Robin Wright Penn) to New Jersey and back and witness she scratching a car with a stone. She tells that her name is Philly and she is the powerful producer of the show "Sorry, Haters", and the owner of the car is the woman that "stole" her husband and daughter. Philly snoops in Ashade's life and he tells that he has doctorate in chemistry in Syria but is supporting his sister-in-law Eloise (Élodie Bouchez) and his nephew working as taxi driver since his brother, who is also a Canadian citizen, was arrested in JFK while in transit and deported back to Syria. Philly promises to help the family using a lawyer that is a friend of her. However, sooner his and Eloise's lives and hope are affected by the actions of Philly, whose name is indeed Phoebe.
"Sorry, Haters" is an impressive and disturbing movie about the prejudice and lack of respect with immigrants (and tourists) in the United States of America after the tragic September 11th by a minority of the American citizens and authorities. The treatment spent to Ashade by the security guard and the policewoman in the very beginning discloses the prejudice and indifference to the Muslin taxi driver. Robin Wright Penn has a top-notch performance in the role of an insane masochistic schizophrenic sociopath lonely woman and her complex character deserves to be studied by psychologists. The destructive behavior of the authorities based on an anonymous denounce, treating the innocent Eloise without the minimum respect, is very sad. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Esperança e Preconceito" ("Hope and Prejudice")
"Sorry, Haters" is an impressive and disturbing movie about the prejudice and lack of respect with immigrants (and tourists) in the United States of America after the tragic September 11th by a minority of the American citizens and authorities. The treatment spent to Ashade by the security guard and the policewoman in the very beginning discloses the prejudice and indifference to the Muslin taxi driver. Robin Wright Penn has a top-notch performance in the role of an insane masochistic schizophrenic sociopath lonely woman and her complex character deserves to be studied by psychologists. The destructive behavior of the authorities based on an anonymous denounce, treating the innocent Eloise without the minimum respect, is very sad. My vote is seven.
Title (Brazil): "Esperança e Preconceito" ("Hope and Prejudice")
- claudio_carvalho
- Mar 26, 2009
- Permalink
Details Details Details
- RobinCook70
- Sep 29, 2006
- Permalink
Everything will be fine after the USA converts to some form of fundamentalism.
- armalightt
- Apr 2, 2006
- Permalink
Masterful performance
With semi-well known actors giving powerful performances, this was a surprisingly good movie. Kechiche and Penn touch each others lives in ways no one should. Penn plays a vulnerable woman whose life has taken some horrible turns as she enlists the aid of the Muslim cabbie Kechiche to be her friend while she offers him legal help for his family. As events unfold, Kechiche realizes that everything is not as it seems, and has to make some critical life decisions in an attempt to get things back on track. Penn plays the role with absolute precision, giving you the chills the character masterfully manipulates the other characters, especially Kechiche, as you watch events unfold in disbelief.
Disturbing
This moving is very polarizing. I didn't like it, because I am an Arab and a Muslim and I felt the injustice of the taxi driver more personally the most of the audience, but my friend loved it, and thought it was thought provoking. Which it is. I will not ruin the ending for the reader, but it will shock you, so be prepared. Additionally, it isn't one of those movies that is very well balanced. In a sense, I didn't really care what Philly's motivations where in the movie, and the director's efforts at showing her as unstable were a bit heavy handed and clichéd. Other than that, the movie was fine, but not exceptional and NOT about Guantanamo.
Gives independent films a bad name
This self-indulgent vanity project is a superb example of why writers should not direct their own movies.
The film showed real promise at the beginning and the acting is fine. However, the tempo and plot are uneven and often under-developed. Most importantly, the movie suffers from a split personality about half way in and the director/writer can't quite decide what film he's making.
The movie is one part moving emotional drama. The drama centers around a troubled woman just trying to get by and make sense of post 9/11 New York city. However, the movie is also part pointless thriller/horror. This thriller/horror element of the film is poorly crafted and simply does not mesh with the rest of the film. Instead, it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
The thing that depressed me most about this movie is that I felt that there was a genuinely amazing film buried somewhere underneath the train wreck of this film.
The film showed real promise at the beginning and the acting is fine. However, the tempo and plot are uneven and often under-developed. Most importantly, the movie suffers from a split personality about half way in and the director/writer can't quite decide what film he's making.
The movie is one part moving emotional drama. The drama centers around a troubled woman just trying to get by and make sense of post 9/11 New York city. However, the movie is also part pointless thriller/horror. This thriller/horror element of the film is poorly crafted and simply does not mesh with the rest of the film. Instead, it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.
The thing that depressed me most about this movie is that I felt that there was a genuinely amazing film buried somewhere underneath the train wreck of this film.
Powerful & Gripping
This acting in this film was excellent, and I found it very powerful and gripping with a very unexpected ending. It is too bad that smaller films like this, that are thought provoking and leave you thinking well after seeing it, often get overlooked.
As disturbing as Robin Wright Penn's character is, you can't take your eyes off of her and wonder what she is capable of next. And Abdel is also very captivating. The emotional twists, the way these two psychologically torture each other consistently leaves an element of surprise. Some may love it, some may hate it, but with these two controversial characters, I would be hard pressed to hear anyone leave this saying they were bored.
The one thing that is sad, is that indie films like this that are not getting the media attention deserved, means that Robin won't even get an Oscar nod, cuz she acted her ass off! Props to the writer/director Stanzler for taking a brave chance on this material.
As disturbing as Robin Wright Penn's character is, you can't take your eyes off of her and wonder what she is capable of next. And Abdel is also very captivating. The emotional twists, the way these two psychologically torture each other consistently leaves an element of surprise. Some may love it, some may hate it, but with these two controversial characters, I would be hard pressed to hear anyone leave this saying they were bored.
The one thing that is sad, is that indie films like this that are not getting the media attention deserved, means that Robin won't even get an Oscar nod, cuz she acted her ass off! Props to the writer/director Stanzler for taking a brave chance on this material.
- justin_vightmee
- Nov 7, 2005
- Permalink
It's the writing ...
surprisingly good psychological drama on the effects of terrorism
Brave but fumbled attempt to capture the reasons for 9/11
The idea of this film is that you can push any man so hard that he will eventually snap and turn violent -- and if he doesn't turn violent, you can just commit the violence yourself and frame him for it. It is an illustration and an allegory of the relationship that's existed between Muslim Arabs and the rest of the world for many decades. When they complain about the humiliations inflicted on them by the West, this is precisely what they mean. The whole faux-benevolent "trust me" attitude on the part of the most sinister exploiters, the foisting of Western values on them by people spouting nauseating "PC" platitudes, the spectacle of Europeans and Americans loudly proclaiming themselves victims even as they occupy, by deception and terror, Arab land, the daily metastasizing spread of Western popular culture -- all of this is mirrored in this film.
And what motivates the exploiters? Not illusions of benevolence, not even money. It is a lust for power that is itself a form of insanity. The reasons are so twisted you simply would not believe them.
The film conveys all of this rather amateurishly. The plot is ridiculously fumbled. Robin Wright's performance is nothing but a lot of scenery-chewing. (A couple of her more over-the-top scenes actually provoke giggles.) But the idea is a good one, even if it hasn't yet found a cast and crew worthy of it.
And what motivates the exploiters? Not illusions of benevolence, not even money. It is a lust for power that is itself a form of insanity. The reasons are so twisted you simply would not believe them.
The film conveys all of this rather amateurishly. The plot is ridiculously fumbled. Robin Wright's performance is nothing but a lot of scenery-chewing. (A couple of her more over-the-top scenes actually provoke giggles.) But the idea is a good one, even if it hasn't yet found a cast and crew worthy of it.
The lonely girl
Quite different type of terrorist movie, Penn is excellent.
See it for Robin Wright Penn
If you read the reviews, you'll see that the ending is the polarizing element of this movie. Reactions range from apoplexy to confusion to adoration. Some will argue that this is a movie about American/Muslim tensions. Some might say it's about the after-effects of 9/11. Still others might view it as study of madness. But ultimately it's an intelligent, complex film that will inevitably illicit heated debate. And more importantly, if you appreciate world-class acting, Abdel Kechiche's and Robin Wright Penn's performances are worth your time. As stated in the DVD's round-table discussion special feature, you feel like a voyeur watching Wright Penn's character interact with the people in her life. Her every on-screen moment, no matter how shocking, is utterly believable. This movie really stays with you.
Confusing plot, characters, roles, story line, The 'Time' in NYC
- KarenDallasHartig
- May 14, 2012
- Permalink
Good psychological thriller with an interesting perspective on the damage of hate
This film is both a psychological thriller and a comment on the damage that hatred inflicts. On several levels it can make you look at people's actions and how it can happen that we can become driven by our negative impulses rather than by compassion and understanding. Also the film looks at how the pressures to achieve success, feel loved and wanted, and have a sense of personal empowerment dominates modern life, and when people feel like failures in these realms, the inclination to become bitter and then lash out somehow can take over. Robin Wright Penn does an excellent job of portraying the main female character -- with the risk of giving too much away here, she makes this woman a composite of both sensitivity and instability so that there is a growing awareness of unpredictability concerning her actions and where the movie is going. Abdel Kechiche, the actor who plays the Syrian cab driver, is compelling as well.
Wright is so Wrong
Robin Wright nails crazy lady in this all-over-the-place drama. When she hails an Arab cab driver, their stories start to mingle as Wright weaves a big web of lies. Most of the movie is unexpected, right up until the end.
- jeroduptown
- Oct 25, 2021
- Permalink
Nothing at all to be sorry about
A kind of psychological mystery that tends toward the thriller genre that is a also finely-tuned character study that features a brilliant performance from its leading lady and--most tellingly of all--approaches how we live now and the events of 9/11/01 with an original perspective that makes that day frightening again in a whole new manner (and that's a mere portion of what you'll get), SORRY, HATERS is so shocking in so many surprising ways that I haven't stopped thinking about it for several days. It succeeds as entertainment, provocation and mind-expander, and seems to grow more powerful and mysterious the more I consider it.
Robin Wright Penn, who has helped improve movie after movie from "The Princess Bride" through "Forest Gump," "White Oleander" and "Nine Lives," reaches a new plateau here: that of taking absolute ownership of a film. She manages this despite the very fine work of the rest of the cast, which includes Sandra Oh, Josh Hamilton, Elodie Bouchez and an especially rich and beautiful performance from leading man Abdel Kechiche (who is himself writer/director of the 2005 Cesar-winning French film "L'Esquive"). The writer/director of "Sorry Haters" is Jeff Stanzler, who made the interesting "Jumpin' at the Boneyard" back in 1992, and two short films since. That this 2005 piece didn't put Stanzler on the map of big-time movie makers will remain as mysterious to me as does his movie.
I will say no more about the film, except that you might, at its conclusion, want to turn to the Special Features and watch the round-table discussion between a group that includes Tim Robbins, Mary Louise Parker and Julian Schnabel, all of whom seem as blown away by the film as was I. Certainly, for all of us, Muslims in America and a sweet phrase like "I want to give you something my parents gave me" may now resonate in quite a different manner.
Robin Wright Penn, who has helped improve movie after movie from "The Princess Bride" through "Forest Gump," "White Oleander" and "Nine Lives," reaches a new plateau here: that of taking absolute ownership of a film. She manages this despite the very fine work of the rest of the cast, which includes Sandra Oh, Josh Hamilton, Elodie Bouchez and an especially rich and beautiful performance from leading man Abdel Kechiche (who is himself writer/director of the 2005 Cesar-winning French film "L'Esquive"). The writer/director of "Sorry Haters" is Jeff Stanzler, who made the interesting "Jumpin' at the Boneyard" back in 1992, and two short films since. That this 2005 piece didn't put Stanzler on the map of big-time movie makers will remain as mysterious to me as does his movie.
I will say no more about the film, except that you might, at its conclusion, want to turn to the Special Features and watch the round-table discussion between a group that includes Tim Robbins, Mary Louise Parker and Julian Schnabel, all of whom seem as blown away by the film as was I. Certainly, for all of us, Muslims in America and a sweet phrase like "I want to give you something my parents gave me" may now resonate in quite a different manner.
- talltale-1
- Aug 13, 2006
- Permalink
I loved it
I thought the movie said a lot about how we relate to one another. And also dealt with violence and hatred in America, along with a number of other important themes, without hitting the audience over the head. I felt angry at times, at characters and at the world, and also sympathetic. It was a journey that I didn't expect to go on, Nor one that I could get out of. In some ways I felt trapped and forced to confront the demons within ourselves and within others. Too often we try ignore these things. Maybe by confronting them we can actually move forward instead of always looking back and repeating history. It was well casted and very well done.
- cherylleibert
- Jan 17, 2006
- Permalink
Can't believe what I just saw.
I came to these boards just to obtain some type of understanding about this movie. Did I really see what I just saw? (It turns out I did). Either way, I still don't get it. Probably because it is so shocking. I'm going to have to watch it again but I can't right now. Very upsetting. I don't want to give anything away so that's all I'm going to say for now. I gave the movie a 10 because . . . I don't know why . . . The music was good? . . . It was so different and offbeat? . . . It was too unbelievable? . . . I've never seen anything like that in a motion picture? . . . . Or maybe because I like the actors/actresses and I think or trust that there was a valid point to be made in this film so I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt. I guess, I'll go with the music and the valid point. On the other hand, I may never watch this movie again.
Robin Penn in a Hair-Raising Portrayal of Psychosis
It is ironical that Sean Penn portrayed a violent psychopath so brilliantly in THE ASSASSINATION OF RICHARD NIXON only the year before (2004, see my review), and that his ex-wife Robert Wright Penn has here portrayed a female equivalent character equally brilliantly. Surely they should have stayed married if they can both psychose so well. Why not do it together rather than in separate films? Oh well, more people would probably get blown up that way. This film has an unfortunate title which is bound to have put everyone off and diminished the audience. After all, how is the public supposed to know that 'Sorry, Haters' is the title of a TV series about rich celebrities made by the company Robin Penn's character works for? OK, so it relates ultimately to this film as well, but that is really carrying subtlety too far, and was certainly counterproductive. This film was written and directed by Jeff Stanzler. Unlike many script writers, he can direct his own work very well indeed. And as for the script and the plot, they are so fantastically ingenious that this ranks as one of the most unexpected thrillers I have ever seen. It is a truly innovative film noir. It is very rare for any one to be clever enough to get such new angles and come up with a story this original in such a well-ploughed genre. There is nothing listed for Stanzler professionally in the five years since he did this. Is he getting his strength back after this harrowing and utterly brilliant shocker? The film twists our preconceptions about current events concerning terrorist atrocities into unrecognisable and novel shapes. The setup of a stooge in this film is just as ingenious as the one portrayed in ARLINGTON ROAD. Robin Penn begins the film as a highly strung and neurotic independent TV producer who takes a taxi. The driver is a devout Muslim who wears a little white hat but speaks fluent English and French. He is a refugee from Syria, and as he takes Penn on an extremely long drive costing about $200, he and she become acquainted. He stops off to see his sister-in-law (played by French actress Elodie Bouchez, see my review of her in PACT OF SILENCE, i.e. LE PACTE DU SILENCE, 2003) and baby niece. He is trying to get his brother released from confinement as a terrorist suspect and Penn offers to get a lawyer to draft an official letter for him about this to the authorities. But countless bizarre events happen, one after another, in bewildering succession, and it turns out that Penn is not a TV producer after all, but merely a lower-level employee of the company, and the office she had appeared to use was that of her old friend Phyllis, brilliantly played by Sandra Oh (who is of Korean extraction). Phyllis's husband and child turn out to be the ones which Penn had told the taxi driver were her own ex-husband and her own child, and this is revealed to be untrue. But that's only the beginning of the surprises. Things get stranger and stranger. It turns out that Penn, who is treated by Phyllis as her best friend, is really a sociopath and psychotic who secretly hates her and wants to harm her (she scratches the paint off her car covertly, for instance). But her moment of truth is when she revels in the fact that the only time Phyllis ever called her and 'was weak' and needed comforting was on the day of 9/11. She says: 'That was the only time I felt I was not just a nobody. I want that day back.' However, I do not want to ruin the surprises by telling any more. Suffice it to say that if you want to stage a terror attack in New York, and you are clever enough to blame it on an innocent Muslim whom you pick up in a taxi, well you might appear in this film. Abdel Kechiche, a Tunisian actor, does a superb job of playing the difficult and complex role of Ashade, the taxi driver. He fully matches the intensity of Robin Penn's performance with his own.
- robert-temple-1
- Jul 9, 2010
- Permalink
Great metaphor!