thumbworn Possible minimal spoilers.I attempted to watch this based on the 7.5 score it received here on IMDb. I can only guess that the majority of the high ratings are from friends and family of the cast and crew, because this film was so bad I didn't make it through thirty minutes before I shut it off. The direction is terrible; I felt like I was watching the film project of a film student who decided on a whim to become a filmmaker and then failed the class, deservedly. The odd overlays and cuts reek of amateur filmmaking. I didn't like anything about the film from the moment it started, aside from the odd clothing choice of Christina Ricci's character, who was in a dance class wearing what doesn't seem to me like clothing someone would be wearing in dance class, especially someone as busty as Christina. The film should've been over as soon as it started, because she had multiple chances when they first got into the car to just lock Gallo's character out and drive off. The car was already running and he got out of the car twice (I believe, maybe 3 times)before her in the parking lot. It's not like he even had a gun or gave her reason to believe he did. She simply could've locked the door, slid over and drove away. The worst he could've done was punch the car's glass. Then he gets out and goes across the street to void his bladder and she just sits and waits. I could understand if her character was mentally challenged, but what person of average intelligence wouldn't have driven off? Personally, I'd have run him down first. A ten year old child would have the sense to lock the doors and drive away, yet somehow Ricci's character didn't. There wasn't even anything likable about the characters. Gallow's character is so unlikable and unintelligent that I struggled to wait as long as I did to shut the film off. His parents have the personalities of stones. I realize that this is a black comedy, but the few areas I detected as being intended as funny simply were not. What little dialogue there is in the portion I sat through is terrible. I'm angry that I wasted a rental on this. This is only my opinion.

cbockiii Almost every sentence that comes out of Vincent Gallo's mouth makes me laugh. He says terrible things in his movies and in interviews, but he's one of the most interesting people in show business.Every actor in this movie did a super job. Gallo, Christina Ricci, Mickey Rourke, Ben Gazarra, Anjelica Huston, Goon... the list goes on. How much of it was because of Gallo's direction, I don't know, but I loved every minute of it.You can imagine the hilarity in an innocent, kind woman falling for a guy who is a miserable jerk. She never gives up, and the audience reaps the rewards of that. He's a jerk to his family, he's a jerk to his friends and he's a jerk to her. And all of it is hilarious.

Rodrigo Amaro This makes you wonder about the relatively distinguishable thin line between artists and entertainers and what does it mean to be one or another or even a mix of both. What can be said of Vincent Gallo's efforts as a director? "The Brown Bunny" outraged many crowds out there not only because of its infamous real sex scene but because the work itself seemed an egoistical attempt to prove something to someone and that was the director trying to impress himself. It's quite pretentious, very empty but manageable, watchable. Now, the beloved "Buffalo '66" appears to have more logic, more sense and a good structure with its transitions from one scene to the next one, there's an artist moving and creating those moments and sometimes everything flows so easily, so it can't be art, this Jekyll is getting dominated by Mr. Hyde, the mindless entertainment. What's the verdict? But let us go down with the story: Gallo plays Billy, a convict just released from prison who has two plans on his mind: to kill the man responsible for his arrest and to pay a visit to his parents (Anjelica Huston and Ben Gazzara) of whom he doesn't have much of a good relationship, and during those years arrested he sent letters pretending he was working for the government on a secret project and that he also got married. The latter plan is absurd because he doesn't know anyone, he's deeply immersed in himself so what does he do? He kidnaps a girl (Christina Ricci) and forces her to be his wife while he's visiting his folks. All she has to do is to make him look nice before them, show that they are a loving couple. And who could have thought such plan not only worked out but also Billy got himself a bonus: the girl fell for him despite all of his cruelties and commands.What does "Buffalo '66" is trying to impose with its apparently innocuous speech? One direction: it's an unconventional love story with everything to go wrong but in the end it turns out alright. Another deeper perspective, which also includes the fore-mentioned view, merely says to us that misogynists, homophobes and scums of the earth deserve some love and understanding and they'll get it in the most strange of ways. That's what I get from watching this. Billy treats everybody bad, people seem to worth nothing for him (the only guy of whom he doesn't say a word and keeps with his head down through the whole time is the character played by Mickey Rourke) and he keeps going with this trend for on and on. Basically, with this movie Gallo is giving hope to many idiots out there who think acting like his character will give them something truly rewarding, they'll find true love...someday!If that's the way it's not supposed to be read, then why all the gigantic love this movie has? The story isn't appealing (except here and there), takes a whole lot of time to take over and to make us involved. At the top of all: the script is annoying as hell with its characters, specially Billy, repeating their lines and situations over and over. What's up with the bathroom thing? All the time he needed a bathroom. "Just look at me. Just look at me" or "Goon! Goon!" and even "We are a couple that doesn't touch." and always getting something involving chocolate. When Ricci's character was offered to have something brought to her by Billy, before she answered I said to myself "If she says chocolate once again I'll give thumbs down to this movie!". And she said it. But then, the climatic moment unfolded and it was beautiful, seemed to worth all the while and all the craziness. Won't say what happens in it except that it might be the greatest use of a Yes song in a movie with "Heart of the Sunrise" playing for quite a bit. Besides that moment there's some memorable good sequences such as Gazzara's dubbing a music pretending to be a great singer or the girl's story on how she met Billy, inventing their perfect love story. The man has some good imagination, I'll give you that. He can prove to be artistic but gotta work harder to be considered one. And it was an autobiographical story? Well...not much of an interesting one. At the end of the day it's just another purposeless story made to leave you at ease and distracted, enjoying the little entertainment it can offer you. Liked it but not that much and I'm still trying to figure out what's so special about it for people to love it. Almost forgot: and once again the man flattered himself about his member, this time not showing it but with someone saying "But it's SO big!" to him. Ugh... 6/10

Maria R This is one of my favourite films - and not just because it's a wonderful visual experience with great performances by all actors. It's because love in this film feels true, far from the ordinary attraction we've grown accustomed to watch portrayed as love, especially on the screen.I'm reminded of a moving speech in the "Poupées russes" film from one of the female characters, about being in love with a man's imperfections. But here it's more than this: it's a pure, child-like image of love, an ideal they both seem to share. Love is seeing the best in someone and that's exactly what Layla does. In this sense it doesn't matter if Billy is so pathetic that normally no one would pay attention to him. We can watch everything through Layla's eyes and understand her reactions because we too can't help but care.As for the kidnapping, it's obvious the man is a harmless lunatic, not a dangerous criminal. We see plainly on Layla's face (superb mimic by Christina Ricci) that she reads him perfectly and is curious to find out more, dismissing the completely ridiculous threats for what they are: empty words. A bit far-fetched? Perhaps, but not entirely implausible.