Hacks

1997

Comedy / Mystery

4
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Rotten 33%
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Spilled 33% · 50 ratings
IMDb Rating 4.7/10 10 410 410

balcony screenwriting writers

Plot summary

Brian is a television writer-producer who has to script a 22-episode anthology, but lacks inspiration. He witnesses a strange romantic encounter between two figures on the balcony of hotel near his flat and decides to write scripts with his writer friends based on what he saw.

Director

Gary Rosen Photo
Gary Rosen

Top cast

Robert Patrick Photo
Robert Patrick as Goatee
Gordon Michaels Photo
Gordon Michaels as Louie
Olivia d'Abo Photo
Olivia d'Abo as Lynn
Bob Odenkirk Photo
Bob Odenkirk as Cellmate
720p.WEB 1080p.WEB
858.87 MB
1280*714
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds ...
1.56 GB
1920*1072
English 2.0
NR
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 33 min
Seeds 3

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by silentgmusic

Saw this as "The Big Twist"

I saw this a few weeks back on HBO and was: a) suprised I hadn't heard of it before, with such a strong cast and all. b) thoroughly entertained. The dialogue and performances were great. c) wondering how it managed to get two other titles...The late John Ritter works well with Dave Foley, both skilled comedic actors who seem very relaxed and into the material.Richard Kind plays a typical type of character for him, but he's good (that's why he plays this type).I am a Stephen Rea fan (he has made some mediocre films bearable) and thought his performance here was particularly good. He's playing all dopey and whatnot...well, I won't give much of the plot away, but the title "The Big Twist" seems appropriate."Sink or Swim"! What kind of title is that?! It's like saying "Swimming with Sharks Part Two!" "Hacks" is more appropriate, and as mentioned before, I like the title "The Big Twist." So, why change the name so many times? Was the idea to sell the film like some sort of retitled Independent International picture, giving it a new title to trick people into seeing the same film more than once? Darned if I know. I do know this is a good film, not great (it should have been longer) but it is good. All the other performances are sharp, the director is in control, and the dialogue simply crackles. Recommended (especially to writers)...
Reviewed by MarieGabrielle 8 / 10

Why the many title changes?

"The Big Twist" was a good title- recently shown on HBO. This is well-constructed, creative comedy, that doesn't rely on slapstick.Stephen Rea and Ileana Douglas are very good (she was also excellent in "Ghost World") John Ritter and Dave Foley hysterical- as two desperate TV writers, trying to come up with a new gimmick.Wish Ritter got better film offers in his short career- instead of films like Kindergarten Cop or whatever it was called.There are some funny scenes- where they have to take a bus in LA- and remark how Hollywood used to be glamorous, now it looks like Guatemala.There are also scenes with Douglas at the Château Marmont- Ryan O'Neal portrays Rea's psychiatrist. Lisa Kudrow and Jason Priestley also have bit parts. Some scenes work better than others, all in all this is a decent comedy that is worth a try.
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