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David Schwimmer, Simon Pegg, Alice Eve, Jon Polito, Natascha McElhone ... see more see more... , Mimi Rogers , Amber Rose Sealey , Billy Asher , Colin Stinton , Mitchell Mullen , Olivia Peterson , Sarah Edmondson

Director Jean-Baptiste Andrea's wicked, jet-black comic thriller Big Nothing stars Friends mainstay David Schwimmer as Charlie Wood, a onetime American professor now married to a policewoman, Penelope... read more read more... (Natascha McElhone) and living in Oregon. As the story opens, Charlie takes a job as a telephone operator at an Information Technology call support center, but is promptly fired for making offensive comments to a customer. One of Charlie's shadier co-workers, Gus Dickinson (Simon Pegg) wheedles him into his plan to blackmail a priest, Rev. Smalls (Mitchell Mullen) by using "inside" information from the company that demonstrates the minister's obsession with internet porn. Thus begins an endless series of Mametian twists and turns involving double-cross, mistaken identity, forced drownings, poisonings, infidelities and cold-blooded mariticide, as the men attempt to collect on the money but run head-first into one outrageous conflict after another. Alice Eve, Mimi Rogers and Jon Polito co-star; Andrea and William Asher co-authored the script. ~ Nathan Southern, Rovi

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61% liked it

15,832 ratings

R, 1 hr. 25 min.

Directed by: Jean-Baptiste Andrea

Release Date: June 12, 2007

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DVD Release Date: June 12, 2007

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Flixster Reviews (2,084)

  • fb634552688
    September 14, 2011
    fb634552688
    Well-acted with a driven, entertaining plot and just plain hilarious. I approve
  • 3niR
    July 25, 2011
    3niR
    Not that funny but was enjoyable.
  • adammahler1
    February 24, 2011
    adammahler1
    Gets a lot into its 85 minutes, and the animation and split screens even work well to set the tone of a fast-moving novella on the screen. It's a thriller, a pretty original one, about 3 people in it together who have to admit they don't know each other at all but have linked the... read moreir fates.

    Big Nothing would have been a league better if the writer-director stayed close to this theme, filling in the details of the plot from the first hour-- with the characters' taking in the gravity of their choices. The plot swings for the fences and then runs the bases carefully, keeping a feeling of plausible cause-and-effect until the last 20 minutes where the prospect of a second serial killer feels like a mangled O'Henry touch. This undercuts a thriller which had distinguished itself by balancing comedy and suspense exactly right, so you could believe what was happening in each category was not there for comic relief or to keep an audience from getting bored.

    The three leads are all good, and two have avoided big pitfalls. Schwimmer plays his role with agility to not sink like a sad sack, and Simon Pegg, with his hard-to-place American accent, seems like a familiar and unwicked type of person no matter how much his motives are revealed. For an English movie shot by a French director in Canada and Wales, the setting seems American enough, an updating of Jim Thompson's world to include most of a small town employed at a call center. And the characters here are all smarter than you would think if you tried to look at them only through the surroundings where each has immediately put themselves; this is also a very American thing that Brits don't usually get.
  • 76Majikat
    February 19, 2011
    76Majikat
    This film has been compared to Fargo and if you're a fan of Fargo, I agree with what has been said and that this film will probably appeal to your humour.

    A likeable Independent black comedy, which I feel could really grow on you with each viewing.

    Schwimmer and Pegg team u... read morep to make a good pairing here and the forever growing problems that occur throughout the story are certainly worth raising a chuckle for.
  • LWOODS04
    January 10, 2010
    LWOODS04
    DAVID SCHWIMMER, SIMON PEGG, ALICIA EVE, NATASCHA MCELHONE, MIMI ROGERS, JON POLITO

    Charlie is an ex-teacher turned reluctant call center employee who gets fired on the first day. Distraught on being unable to provide for his daughter Emily and cop wife, Penelope, he is sudden... read morely contacted by Gus, an aspiring scam artist who presents Charlie with a seemingly snag-free plan to make some cash: Blackmail Reverend Smalls a man of the cloth, who's frequently turned up in the company database of visitors to illegal porn-sites. Gus plans on extorting Reverend Smalls, with the intention of publicly exposing his secret shame, should he refuse, with this scandal potentially destroying the man's career. Normally cautious Charlie, is keen on participating in this scam, confident that with this money maker he'll garner from the deal and will finally help turn things around for him and his family. Joined by one-time teenage pageant queen Josie McBroom Gus's ex, the plan goes ahead...but it all goes wrong as Reverend Smalls dies...thanks to this trio, with this only being the start of their troubles.
    Great comedy, with a lot of twists and turns and laughter throughout the entire film. Never know who is telling the truth, or what is going to happen next. David Schwimmer and Simon Pegg were great together. Movie is definitely not boring, but it really doesn't give you a chance to be. Just when you think you know how it's going to end, another twisting surprise happens and your on a new path. It was just a fun movie with some really quirky characters. Some may not like how many times the story changes and the directions it takes, but I thought it was a lot different then most films and that it kept it interesting. So in closing, this movie takes you on a ride of twists and turn with some laughs along the way. A fun watch.
  • kenstachnik
    September 7, 2009
    kenstachnik
    Meh...
  • FiLmCrAzY
    August 5, 2009
    FiLmCrAzY
    Strangely weird but enjoyable little black comedy really!
    Although this movie is pretty damn predictable and obvious the talented Shwimmer and Pegg brought fantastic and hilarious performances to the movie!
    So its differnatly worth a watch!
    Shwimmer plays a man who is unemploy... read moreed and desperate for money and when he finally gets a job at a call centre he meets a guy (pegg) who can solve all of his problems by doing a scam, through a hilarious and real problem with problems arriving left right and centre you find out is anyone truly to be trusted?
    A nice black comedy to watch just keep in mind that the story and plot arent that brilliant but is enjoyable!
  • thmtsang
    April 4, 2009
    thmtsang
    A plot of blackmail turns into a killing spree. Dark comedy with David Schwimmer and Simon Pegg.
  • TheMachinist
    March 7, 2009
    TheMachinist
    A darker comedy starring "Ross Geller" and "Shaun". An odd couple in other words. They manage to do a decent job but as the movie is advertised as a comedy, I can't honestly say that I laughed watching it.

    "Holy Moly!"

    The cinematography has some strange split screen scenes tha... read moret feel very weird. Some of the small screens are made in a fine "A Scanner Darkly" animated style.

    The film has too many plot twists so in the end "Big Nothing" drowns in its own cleverness. Some good dialogue here and there but the film is also too inconsistent.
  • arashxak
    October 12, 2008
    arashxak
    Fun & funny somehow stupid but that's ok, Not very similar but it kinda reminded me of Danny Boyle's Shallow Grave

View All Big Nothing Reviews

Critic Reviews

David Nusair
January 9, 2008
David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

...one of the most refreshingly mean-spirited comedies to come around in quite some time. Full Review

David Cornelius
June 28, 2007
David Cornelius, DVDTalk.com

A work of dark comic insanity that never gets away from itself. Full Review

Anton Bitel
June 15, 2007
Anton Bitel, musicOMH.com

Tense, cruel and hilariously absurd all at once, it may, as its title suggests, not add up to so very much, but it is a deliciously entertaining journey into the night which, at under 90 minutes, neve... Full Review

February 23, 2012
Variety

Click to read the article Full Review

David Jenkins
November 16, 2011
David Jenkins, Time Out

Click to read the article Full Review

Rich Cline
March 10, 2011
Rich Cline, Shadows on the Wall

Click to read the article Full Review

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