Fun

Fun is part of the Film Festival Rotterdam 1999. It was shown on TV to promote the festival. While zapping I got to see the last 90 minutes, and I found it absolutely gripping. The way Renee Humphrey (Hillary) and Alicia Witt (Bonny) played was refreshingly direct and convincing. The movie makes you think, and after a while the need arises to ask yourself the question, `could this have happened to me?' And I found only one answer: I could have been Hillary.

I really liked this film. At first the b/w segments seemed stiff, but the introduction of Bonnie and Hillary brought the movie to instant life. I really liked the characters, and the acting from Witt and Humphrey is brilliant. Even though the outcome of the film was hopeless and dark, it makes you think for days, which is the best thing a movie can do. What was really wrong with Bonnie? Did Hillary grow up to be a productive member of society? Was Mrs. Farmer's character annoying on purpose? These things make the film worth watching and mulling over again and again.

Alicia Witt is a great actress, in my opinion. This movie brought back the nostalgia of my teenage youth. I remember what it was like being a mischief back in my years. The ending is not typical Hollywood, and I definitely recommend it!

I saw this film at about 2am over a year ago on Channel 4 in the UK. Whilst very disturbing and depressing, the direction and concepts behind the film are nothing less than amazing; making the viewing very compelling indeed. The acting is incredibly intense, making the subject matter all the more uncomfortable - it came as no shock to read in the end-credits details of consultant psychologists on the film. I'd never heard of the film until I accidentally tuned into it - the reviews that accompanied it in various magazines rated it as 1 and 2 stars (out of 5) respectively - a sorry comment on the closed-mindedness and inability to face the more uncomfortable aspects of reality that can be found in some professional reviewers. This is an amazing film - if you are feeling relatively stable, go and see it as soon as possible.

This film just blew me away. The tale of two teenage girls who are devoted to each other and conspire to murder an elderly woman was chilling. The presentation of the film was realistic and honest. It's use of flashbacks and black and white photography, gave the film a stark and detached feel, yet enabled us to emphasise with the main protaganists, authority figures and victims. The acting by the two leads; Alicia Witt and Renee Humpherey was superb, thoroughly deserving of the joint best actress award they won at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. An extrordinary representation of todays lost and misguided youth, in a society that is floundering in it's own judgements; beliefs and failure to acknowledge the truth. 9/10.

It's hard to believe that Rafal Zielinski, the guy responsible for bargain basement sleaze like "Screwballs", wanted to make a movie like "Fun". The movies don't exist on the same plane of reality. "Screwballs" featured characters with names like Jerkovski and Purity Busch. "Fun" is a gritty true crime drama, actually based on a true story. This is not to say that "Fun" is a masterpiece. It is bolstered by its two unfettered performances from Witt and Humphrey as two motiveless, remorseless teenage killers. However, the best thing that I can say about the direction is that it gives these actresses the space they need to do their own thing. "Fun" is a must-see for fans of true crime, but anybody else can probably skip it.

This chilling disturbing and in some ways almost funny film deserves 9/10. The color days were used to show how back in the past how Hillary and Bonnie had so much ......well "Fun" in the past hanging out. And The black and white film used it present time how the "fun" they had brought them into trouble. And also being seperated from one another. I saw this movie late one night on Sundance. It had wonderful acting. I loved it and yet was disturbed by it at the same time.Hillary had already told about how she was abused as a kid. And Bonnie was kinda Hyper Active Disorder.Well you know what they say "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun!"Why did I not give it a 10/10. I loved everything except....where was the ending? If what i saw was the ending I didnt like it. Give it more UMTH! Than .....whoops cant tell! I say see this movie whenever you get a chance. But you HAVE to see it begining to end. Or else youll miss out on the fun!

I liked the film and I may know something that many of the other commentators don't know. The film had the standard disclosure at the end noting that any similarity to actual events is coincidental. But it was anything but coincidence. The actual event happened around 20 years ago in Auburn, California. After knocking on numerous doors, the two teenage girls literally talked their way into an elderly woman's home and killed her. And one of the girls wrote in her dairy "we killed an old woman today and it was lots of fun". The girls were sent to the California Youth Authority where they could have been held until their 25th birthday. One of the two girls continued to make the news by fighting with the woman guards and telling them she would come back to get them after she got out. But does anyone know if the two girls went on to live productive lives after finally getting out as adults??