Advice from a Caterpillar (1999) User Reviews

Cynthia does Sarah Jessica with jugs

[rlcsljo · 6/10 · 11 September 2002]

Successful New York artist encounters a bunch of weird guys (do artists know anybody else) and wants to maintain her independence by having sex without falling in love. Sound familiar? You bet, it is just about every episode of "Sex and the City", without the female support group, the guys pick up the ball.

Although rather mundane, the character interactions manage to bring a smile to my face, like an episode of "Friends".

Definitely worth a rental, if you want a "Chick Flick" without a whole hell of a lot of chicks to muck it up.

Magical Beane's Urban Fairy Tale

[NJMoon · 6/10 · 11 November 2000]

Playwright Douglas Carter Beane's stageplay has been turned into an idealized urban fairy tale of the "love conquers all" variety. Beane (who wrote the vastly more entertaining AS BEES IN HONEY DROWN) has a way with city wit, and manages some funny lines - if you happen to be a Greenwich Village performance artists or a theatre queen. This turf was somewhat better handled in TRICK. Otherwise this simple story of an artsy gal (Cynthia Nixon) and her gay best friend (Andy Dick) being in love with the same bi stud is fairly easy-going. Aside from Beane's barbs, best fun is watching for the playwright's Drama Dept. actor friends in cameos. If you haunt the Off-Broadway scene, this one's worth a peek, otherwise stick with TV's "Sex in the City" or reruns of "News Radio". Better yet, wait for your local community theatre to produce AS BEES IN HONEY DROWN, then go!

ANNOYING STAGE DRAMA TRANSFERRED TO FILM

[beptep · 14 April 2002]

As soon as Cynthia Nixon's character spies the naked Brat (Timothy Oliphant) sleeping in her gay friend's bed and her eyes betray her interest, we know that they will be together by the end of the film. That's the way movie cliches work. Missy (Nixon) a pop-fad artist, who has an amazing success showing home movies of her childhood with narration, is having an affair with a married man whose character is given in the credits as "Suit" (Jon Tenny). If there is humour in this film, I missed it. Obviously the final confrontation scene in the diner with a commenting chorus of patrons is meant to be a hoot. But it's too far-fetched and contrived even for this film. And one can't really have a "Romance" if one doesn't care about the characters involved in said romance. But I think there is a greater problem with this film. Let me explain. If films continued to depict Afro-Americans as toadying Uncle Toms, I am certain that here would be vehement cries of anger and protest. Yet this film dares to portray a gay man as the swishy, queenly creature that bigoted Americans think all gays are. Worse than that, it tells us that any bi-sexual man can be "cured" by the love of a good woman. Yet even accepting this preposterous and insulting thesis, it is inconceivable that Timothy Oliphant's character would have Andy Dick's homely, effeminate character as a regular sex-partner and/or fall in love with the irritating creature played by Cynthia Nixon. This film not only angered me. It was an insult to my intelligence.

Slow comedy in the non-existent lane

[rsoonsa · 2/10 · 14 December 2000]

This film concerns purportedly non-establishment types (aesthetically and sexually) who apparently cannot resist basic romantic needs. Although some excellent players take part, including Jon Tenney, Timothy Olyphant, and Cynthia Nixon, they are grounded by a puerile script which relies nearly totally upon clever dialogue; which isn't. Nixon's role possesses the best lines, but she often homes in on them too quickly, a timing flaw which must be saddled upon the director. The grotesque climax utilizes every available cliche, spent or not, and fittingly ends this drab attempt at comedy.

A Sleeper Miss

[kbumbulis · 3/10 · 10 May 2001]

My girlfriend has the habit of going to Blockbuster and choosing movies no-one has ever heard anything about. Admittedly, at times, it has led to some fun discoveries. Often times, the best that can be said is they definitely run an hour and a half.

She brought home "Advice From A Caterpillar." She was excited because the box said it was funny. Lucky for us, the propaganda on the boxes never lie.

This movie was an exercise in patience. This is one of those movies where, unless you are a pretentious and shallow person who likes watching movies about yourself, you will hate every character in the movie. Until the introduction of the one nice character. Which the lead annoying pretentious character will fall in love with and act in such a way that, in the real world, would drive anyone away.

MILD SPOILERS FROM HERE ON

So a bunch of emotionally vapid, stuck-up, pretentious artists swear off love and find success in their careers. Then, they meet a nice, intelligent, emotionally mature and loving character (an almost perfect guy). We then watch the woman, the annoyingly pretentious artist (in her 30's?) freak out as she falls in love. So she tries to flee from the nice, intelligent, emotionally mature man and stay with the married man with whom she's been having great but empty sex. She is rude to the man and does everything in her power to drive him away. In the real world, she would have been quite successful. I certainly wanted to flee from her and I wasn't even in a relationship with her!

Although its nice that the man 'fought for his love', I never wanted her to have him. (Nor did my girlfriend) She didn't deserve him. And, why I wonder, did the director think that the 'almost perfect guy' should be punished by having to win a relationship with her? When the artist was asking the 'almost perfect guy' to leave, we were screaming for him to leave too. There's a problem with a movie when the heroine of the film is so annoying, childish and stupid that you want her to fail.

Beyond that, let me say that Andy Dick made me laugh a few times even though his character was also pretentious to the point of annoyance. Regarding the other characters, they were well acted, morally bankrupt and annoying characters.

It is a comedy and I can say I did laugh a few times in the film. Unfortunately, not much laughing happened until the last 10 minutes or so. But by the time I had those laughs, I had been praying for the movie to end for far too long. I needed to get these vapid characters out of my life.

If you want to watch people you hate struggle with a love for people they don't deserve, then this is the movie for you.

What just happened?

[stemicbor · 1/10 · 9 September 2001]

Why? Why did they make this movie? If Timothy Olyphant wasn't shirtless in it several times, there would be ABSOLUTELY no reason to watch this movie, ever. Um...Plot? Nope. Well-defined characters? nope. The only time I laughed was when my boyfriend made fun of the whole she-bang. P.S. Andy Dick? Nope.

A big beautiful whatever! This is a great comedic and "tender" film

[auntyeri · 9/10 · 22 September 2001]

Yes, As Bees in Honey Drown is great. You should go see it. But "Advice..." is a good movie. The three main characters played by Cynthia Nixon, Andy Dick and Timothy Olyphant- are great actors and make this film extremely worthy of your time. Though touches of nixon's "miranda" neurosis seep through her character, the whole cast does a great job of showing how love can always win.

new love.

[xpunkadooziex · 29 January 2003]

Originally I had never heard of this movie until (being the broke college student that I am) one day I was in Best Buy and decided to check and see if there were any movies in the cheap section(9.99 and under) that might catch my eye. Well as soon as I saw that Cynthia Nixon and Andy Dick were starring in it, I thought how can I not buy it? Not to mention the "institution of a man" that we get to see naked, Timothy Olyphant(dont worry its not full frontal, shucks)..Well now it is somewhat of a new obsession. I watch it at least once a week with my friends. Awesome movie. I can not see how you don't consider this a comedy, there are various times in the movie were I find myself laughing histerically.. are we forgetting the whole rowboat scene, let alone numerous others.. unless I am just easily amused. Anyways, I think this was one of Andy's most endearing roles, and makes me even more of a fan. Personally I'd have to give this film the two thumbs up.