Knots DVD Review:

Sexual romps amongst friends is a theme which was free flowing in many comedies in the seventies. It was humorous despite the fact that the
marriages in the film are destroyed. Films have developed a slightly more serious look at the same issues lately, especially in the case of Closer,
but Greg Lombardo’s sex comedy, Knots, brings back the lightness to the topic. While Knots is not as much similar to the comedies of the seventies
as it is just another sex comedy, there is an air of unoriginality that spans three decades.

Greta and Dave are a seemingly normal married couple, with normal single friends, and all is well in their world until Dave finds Greta in bed with
another woman, Liv, who also hit on Dave in a bar. This woman slowly begins to work her way through the entire group of friends, seducing and
manipulating for no reason other than entertainment. Michael Leydon Campbell is the nice guy in the group of friends, and the one who is always getting the short end of the stick in the dating scene. The one countering the nice guy is Cal (John Stamos), a classic womanizer who is cheating on his girlfriend as a way of assuring himself that he is with the right woman.

Knots begins with a bang, attempting to use as much offensive language and shocking scenes as possible, possibly in hopes of grabbing the audience. Unfortunately this is not a new technique for films of this sort, and because of this audiences have become numb to the careless use of obscenity. As the film allows the focus to move from this type of dialogue to the plot, Cal remains offensive. This may be one of the saving graces of Knots, because Stamos is able to handle the dialogue in a way that is fresh and humorous, instead of seeming forced and trite as the dialogue seems in less able hands.

Much of the film is quite predictable, and not all of the performances are as fun to watch as Stamos. This makes for a slow and average viewing
experience where there might have been potential for more. The focus of the film is also somewhat difficult to figure out. There are so many characters
that none of them receive enough attention to allow us to root for them, leaving them all drifting around without much focus.

The DVD has deleted scenes, bloopers, and a commentary track with the writer, director, producer, and actress Annabeth Gish. These little perks are somewhat exciting, however it would have been much more fitting for Stamos to be on the commentary rather than Gish.



Ryan Izay