Inside Out (I) (2011) User Reviews

Predictable, though still watchable...

[paul_haakonsen · 4/10 · 28 December 2013]

Can't really claim that director Artie Mandelberg has put together something overly memorable here. Sure the movie is enjoyable in itself, but it was hardly outstanding or unique for a crime thriller, which the movie apparently was supposed to be.

The story in "Inside Out" is about AJ (played by Paul Levesque) who is released from prison after 13 years of imprisonment. Returning to his childhood friend Jack (played by Michael Rapaport), AJ soon finds himself drawn back into the world that he left so long ago.

I will say that the story was adequate, although it was rather predictable. But it was nicely enough executed, despite being so guided and one directional. There were no surprises of any kind here to throw the audience off the track. The movie just trotted ahead along a very straight line and never really picked up pace.

As for the acting in the movie, well you know what you are going to get here, given the people on the cast list. So don't expect any award winning performances. That being said, I am not saying that people were doing bad jobs, far from it. They did work their magic with their given characters and given the lack of flexibility from the script.

There was surprisingly little action in the movie, which was sort of a disappointment.

All in all, then "Inside Out" is good enough for a single watching. Just don't expect to be dazzled in any way.

CAN I HAVE A PICKLE?

[nogodnomasters · 6/10 · 4 December 2018]

After 13 years in prison AJ (Paul Levesque) is released. His best friend Jack (Michael Rapaport) is there to greet him. Jack is now married to AJ's former gf (Parker Posey). Jack is still involved in the crime scene, while AJ has renounced his life of crime and wants to make pickles. Jack's father, a veterinarian, runs small time crime, buying and selling untaxed cigarettes to convenience stores in Louisiana. He wants AJ to work for him because his son Jack is unreliable.

Jack is a very irritating character. He has an overly simplistic view of oriental philosophy of cause and effect which he feels he must vocalize, giving us a theme for the movie. The Louisiana ATF is on to the operation. AJ who wants to go straight becomes an accessory to Jack's mishaps. The action takes place in Louisiana with the characters all being local. In spite of that, Parker Posey is the only one who has an accent.

The movie has predictable twists and some unpredictable ones. I think for HHH fans, it was a gallant effort. For those who like fast paced action films, you need to look elsewhere.

Rubbish acting throughout

[Underaglassbell · 5/10 · 25 September 2011]

I watched Inside out this afternoon.

Where to start, well Paul Levesque aka Tipple H was surprisingly OK in this slightly mediocre debacle. - I think with a better cast Inside out could well have been a lot easier to stomach.

The issues came when we are introduced to Claire Small, role played by Parker Posey. Absolutely hideous, from her stupid accent to just a complete lack of acting skills.

There is a scene toward the end where she is supposedly upset, and it just looks horrible and awkward, but not in the way it should considering the situation. Essentially every scene she is in is rubbish: They should have cast her as the strange voiceless assassin played by Jency Griffin, a least then she wouldn't have had to speak.

No, I didn't like her at all especially the fact that she had Arlo Jayne's child, yet never bothered to tell her daughter, who was clearly an inquisitive person that her dad was Arlo. - He was only serving 13 years, a long time yes, but it shows the selfishness / stupidity of Claire that she let her daughter believe Jack was her father and didn't have the foresight to think - oh wait, Jack and Arlo are best friends and when he is released Jack is going to want to see Arlo.

While they rode of into the proverbial sunset at the end, I can see her probably sleeping with the fitness instructor or some other adultery cliché, because that is the type of character she comes off as, Horrible.

Then if Claire wasn't annoying enough, you get Julie White as Martha - I don't know what the hell is going on with her character.

"Did you know Money from Cigarettes goes to Bin Laden". Yes, she is another flat annoying character that should really have been played by someone else, because her acting was almost abhorrent as Parker Poseys.

The only thing that kept the movie going was an /ok/ chemistry between Paul Levesque and Michael Rapaport - While Michael Rapaport might be annoying to some, he played the role and despite them being seemingly very different to old friends. And when Michael Rapaport died, you have to grin and bare tedious scenes between Paul Levesque and Claire / Martha / Irena.

Paul Levesque - Not bad Michael Rapaport - Not bad Bruce Dern - OK / Not bad

So for a Sunday afternoon watch, where there is nothing else on, then give it a go. But don't go out of your way to watch this and don't expect to much and you may not want to follow Jacks lead and blow your brains out.

Inside out for me was ruined by a boring script, and a poor cast which made the whole thing Ennui.

5/10

Exactally what you would expect from a movie starring a wrestler. Better then others. Acting is bad, not surprising. I say C+

[cosmo_tiger · 26 September 2011]

"You sir are gonna do one thing before this is over. You're gonna clean this whole thing up and then your gonna keep my son away from me permanently." After 13 years AJ (Triple H) is released from prison. Meeting up with his best friend Jack (Rapaport) he is ready to start his life over. When Jack messes up his plans AJ realizes he has one more thing to do before he can leave his old life behind. This movie is pretty much exactly what I expected. Any movie starring a wrestler pretty much has a built in fan base and that's what the producers count on. While this one was not as bad as some of the other wrestling movies I have seen, this is still one that you forget as you are watching. I will admit this was not as cheesy as I expected though. Overall, many people will love this movie, I am not one of them. But I expected a little worse. I give it a C+.

Would I watch again? - No, I won't.

*Also try - 12 Rounds & Tactical Force

Boring, Paint By Numbers...Typical of WWE Films

[Ted9Yaz8 · 3/10 · 28 September 2011]

I must be a masochist, or perhaps an optimist because I have seen most of the WWE Films movies and none of them are any good. Perhaps, deep in my subconscious I think "this one will be different, this one will surprise me" but this has yet to actually happen. Inside Out fails in ways that past WWE vehicles have: there is not a hint of originality, you can predict what will happen next as you watch it, the wrestler (in this case Paul "Triple H" Levesque) is not very good and the supporting cast phones it in.

Inside out is quite frankly boring. The plot lulls you into a coma and you'll forget about the film as you watch it. There is nothing here that hasn't been done before and better. HHH is getting out of prison, wants to live the clean life but gets sucked in by his friend that was the cause of his prison stint, the friend has married HHH's love and they have a daughter that is really HHH's...blah blah blah. As I watched this I began to question whether or not I suffer from ADD because I found it difficult to focus on.

If you want to watch a good movie with a wrestler in a starring role watch They Live with Roddy Piper and please: don't be like me. If you see "WWE Films" pop up on the screen don't waste your time.

Mediocre Movie

[jpcdee · 5/10 · 25 October 2014]

Unfortunately WWE Studios fails to light up the screen with this thriller. Is it a thriller? I don't know. Its got a great support cast, but sadly it has a poor script and an unproven movie director. The special effects, were low grade too, and sadly didn't save the film. The V/O at the end confused me too. I was half expecting someone returning.

Is Triple H capable of headlining movies? Yes of course. but I think he needs to decide which genre he wants to stick with. I don't think he can pull off dramas. Action Comedies I think are more his style, as The Chaperone was actually quite funny. He's not in The Rock's league when it comes to movies, but I would see another movie of his.

Will I see it again? not for a while, but I will keep it with the rest of my WWE Superstar movie collection!

A chore to watch

[velcrohead · 3/10 · 19 December 2011]

I have to start out by admitting I'm a shameless WWE mark. I have yet to see a WWE film that was really all that good--"Legendary" was OK, at best--but I keep holding out hope that the next one will be "the one." Sadly, "Inside Out" is not.

The run-time is about an hour and a half, but you'll swear it's longer. The pacing is painfully slow, the scenes are mercilessly dragged out, and for a movie that claims to be an action movie, there are precious little scenes of any action or intensity. It's one long conversation after another, most of which repeats stuff which you've already been told.

The movie seems to WANT to be a psychological thriller, but it doesn't have the writing to back it up. Let's face it, WWE writers are great at writing promos and then letting 2 guys beat the snot out of each other for an hour, but not at scripting intricate plots. The film doesn't have the acting to back it up either, which is a shame because pretty much everyone in the cast has been in better movies and turned in better performances. Julie White, most notably, is out of place here. Parker Posey...it's like she wasn't even paying attention half the time. And Bruce Dern's scenes could have been played by any actor or a reasonably well trained monkey. The only acceptable acting was Michael Rappaport, who as usual was playing Michael Rappaport. Even so, I kept wanting him to just please SHUT UP.

Overall, the movie is dull, predictable, and the big reveal about the daughter only produced a "duh? we've known that this whole entire time" response from the viewer.

If you want action, skip it. The action scenes don't total up to more than 5 minutes of the actual film. If you want drama, there are much better movies for you out there. If you want a psychological thriller, this one's brain waves have flatlined. Two hours is an awful lot of life to lose at one time.

Low-Key and Talky

[LeonLouisRicci · 5/10 · 22 May 2013]

Muscles might make for some prancing and powerful punches in the Wrestling Ring, but that's a long way from the canvas known as the Silver Screen. Here we have another WWE trying to hang up his tights for the Mega-Buck Big Time that is Hollywood.

It is not a bad time-waster of a Movie and is more Personal with a Family situation throughout, not just a backdrop. There is far less Action here than one would expect, relying on the two Leads and their relationship to carry this Story, and for the most part it works well.

Michael Rapaport does seem to be in hyper-drive here, maybe trying to make up for the laid-back, strong silent type that is his Partner. He is recessive in his Character and Performance, leaving room for the rants and over-talk from his unhinged Bro.

Overall, can be enjoyed if expectations are at a minimum and you don't mind more Story than usual in this kind of thing. It is talky, very low on style, but good enough for a watch.

Boring and below ordinary

[varghesejunior · 4/10 · 22 December 2012]

This is a short melodramatic film meant to be thrilling but is not at all the latter.

Story-A convict released from prison tries to start a new life but soon gets involved in crime again when his best friend commits a murder accidentally.

First 20 min are really boring, The storyline's very ordinary, acting is just average, the film is melodramatic, has very few action scenes and hardly any thrills, and nothing much to look forward to. Triple H is average but not as good an actor as Dwayne the Rock Johnson or John Cena.

This film would not have run

Ex-con and best friend in conflicts on a number of levels

[lar_lef · 7/10 · 27 September 2017]

Not a bad film despite some hard to digest aspects; for one, the best friend of the con marries the latter's girlfriend after he is imprisoned. One can see her attraction for him, but he is such a nerd and contrast to her manly boyfriend, hard to believe she would marry him however distraught she was over husband's imprisonment. Levesque was pretty good as an actor and Rappaport,too, given his difficult role, if a bit over nerdy. Too many plot reversals,in my opinion, but the dialogue, humorous at times, kept your interest. The director did a good job in his first film, considering the script he was given. If the film was hard to believe in parts, it kept your interest; the plot intricacies made you want to see how the ball of wax would be resolved. Best thing about the picture might be its title.

Abysmal Crime Drama

[daniel-mannouch · 2/10 · 4 May 2020]

It probably comes as no surprise to you, but Paul Levesque is not that good in this one. But that's because none of the charisma phobic cast is any good really in Inside Out, a film that is incredibly boring, devoid of any dramatic tension and has zero wit. Terrible film, nothing to this at all.

In terms of tone, the film does not know whether to be a drama or a comedy. I can't tell whether the acting or the writing is to blame, but several notably absurd plot twists and bouts of sardonic dialogue later and i'm left asking whether Inside Out failed to make me laugh or failed to make me care. No consistent tone is established and I am just left confused throughout. This indie drama bollocks just does not fit within a WWE studios production and the result is just a low key crime film that goes through the motions and for the life of me, i can't figure out this film's angle.

Inside Out is either a dried up and woefully incompetent drama or an astoundingly unfunny comedy. Either way, it's an undercooked mess that blends into the background faster than a chameleon on lime green wallpaper. It's a nothing film that is worth none of your time and might simply be one of the most boring films i have ever seen.

There are many films i have seen on this show which are objectively terrible, but i stuck with them because if i sense that the effort is there, i will respond to it. However, whilst Inside Out had a considerable budget, the film is so by the numbers that I randomly skipped through twenty minutes of this drek and came out the other end missing nothing. I don't often do that kind of thing, but Inside Out is that drab and it is that forgettable that i could simply not care less.

I liked this movie start to finish

[aldeming577 · 8/10 · 23 May 2016]

Reminded me of the film noir movies of the late 40s and early 50s. so many people downgrade a movie because of reasons they think they can. let them try and make a movie and see what they come up with. Never say a movie is bad just say you don't like it. much of the movie is set in the south and many people do not realize much of organized crime came from such places. it also focus on the way many people free from prison get stuck back in the life style that put them there. All people good hearted people want freed from the people that could care less about their lives and only care for themselves at the cost of the innocent. a very entertaining movie from start to finish thanks

i thought theyde be great together

[steeledanton · 6/10 · 2 December 2014]

okay...so michael rapaport wasn't channeling arkansas dave rudabaugh which was Christian slaters role in young guns two...nor did he play much more than a middleman in true romance with a pothead roommate that had intentions on helping Christian both have fun as well as sell cocaine in that one....but in inside out i remember triple h rolling out of bed with parker posey on a couple of occasions whereas recently keanu was seen with his moose knuckles in jon wick....but now that i think about it, was parker posy just as bad as anyone else in this movie? its hard to re review a film that seems foggy though, most definitely i do totally remember seeing this movie

you know what? not that bad. not bad at all

[dave54t · 10 November 2011]

I saw the movie without reading the reviews, and I must tell you- I found my self interested. no big surprises in the story line, but it was good story, one you can follow with some interest. the acting, surprisingly, was more than reasonable, even if our hero was a wrestler. good thing, the story line is not based on that fact. the action is moderate but still is there. sometimes you get actual violence, sometime it is implied, but things work well. I don't agree with the other reviews, blasting so hard against this movie. it is not a waste of your time- but to the contrary. Wouldn't leave everything I'm doing for this piece, but once you got some free time, watching it is a good way to spend about 90 minutes. You can watch it and enjoy.

Inside Out is a COMEDY

[big_O_Other · 8/10 · 29 May 2013]

I find it amazing to see this listed as a crime drama or a thriller. It is a semi-black comedy throughout. How anyone cannot see that hapless franchise tax board lady as anything but hilarious is beyond me.

Michael Rapaport, who after all started out as a stand-up comedian, is completely amazing as a bumbler who borders on the sinister, and leaves you guessing right up to the end. And Bruce Dern is so far over the top as a crime boss hiding out as a veterinarian (!!) that anyone should be able to see how this is meant to be comic exaggeration, not real evil.

Lesvesque is absolute perfect for the role, and Parker Posey is her usual wonderful self.

Trash!

[zakfar2000 · 11 October 2011]

Pretty much a peace of trash, Inside Out is an extremely boring movie that should be among the worst movies of all time. If you have read the movie description, you somewhat know everything. A man getting out of prison after thirteen years... interested in reforming his life... and then messed up in an idiotic scenario... But the movie is far worse than this description. Interestingly, it doesn't even have anything for wrestling fans, like melee fights or body figure scenes showing off HHH.

I will highly recommend not to waste your time.

1/10 (only because zero isn't explanatory here at IMDb).

The game

[ajchandran · 8/10 · 14 January 2019]

It's a great movie done by HHH. Didn't expect this from WWE studios.

Lost me after the pathetic political attack!

[goatbut29 · 18 November 2011]

This movie started out well enough. You know what you're getting from a wrestling movie. But around the 20-30 minute area Michael mentions doubting the whole 'God thing' and then says, 'where was god when they outed Valarie Plame?!'.

I mean, really? Of all the things to base your doubt on God, THAT was it?! Your bias is showing Mr. Director who im sure, is a flaming liberal, proud of it, donated the maximum to Obama and democrats, considers those that disagree with him politically as stupid or mildly retarded, etc.

Notice he did not say, 'where was God when a Noble peace prize recipient waged an illegal war (without congressional approval-like Bush-and even less UN/Global support) against Libya?!'

You just lost me. The pathetic attempt at turning off HALF of this country that disagrees with your politics worked on me. Now I hope everything you touch falls apart and you are left to fester in your own hatred.