Unmade Beds

I have been looking for this DVD for years. Finally got it and I am thrilled.

A classic!

I thought the soundtrack on this film was sensational -- and I was completely captivated by the story of these four singles lives. I highly, highly recommend you buy a copy.

Filmmaker Barker found four very different losers-in-love in the personal ads and got toknow them for months, writing a script based on their personalities and experiences. Hethen filmed it as if it were a traditional documentary, with the people playing themselves.The characters are always interesting, if all sad, and often pathetic as wellas pathetically funny.Sometimes it feels exploitational - don't these people know how sad, and sometimescrazy they come off? Yet there's something that feels like these people consciously choseto be seen for who they were, warts and all. Better that than continue to exist in the lonelyhole of obscurity.And a simple visual touch at the very end puts a slightly more empathetic, less cruel spin on the film.I couldn't quite love it, but I respect it's bravery in trying something new, its dark humor,and its unblinking eye. But I suspect an unmanipulated documentary might havebeen even more powerful. Here, we're never sure how deeply to hurt for thesepeople, or how awful or cruel to feel at laughing at them, because we don't knowwhen what we're seeing is `true' - which makes for interesting debates about`reality', but also creates a bit of emotional disconnect. But just a bit...

Although this film was made in 1999 or 2000 (sometime around there), there's little doubt that the worries, hangups, and issues revealed in this much too overlooked documentary are still very much relevant today.Nicholas Baker, the filmmaker, focuses on the dating concerns of four New Yorkers, all different--two men and two women. While each is noticeably different from the others, what soon becomes apparent is that there is a similarity in perspective in at least two of them--blatant selfishness. The other two, more sympathetic, are just as fascinating because of their intense involvement in trying to find the right person, knowing full well each has what is commonly perceived to be a serious problem from the point of view of dating--one is overweight (female) and the other is short (male).What makes this film so compelling is the extremes to which some (maybe a lot more than some) people will go to get the right person into their lives, and especially, making sure the WRONG person does not play a part. Hence the man who is not short--and who is really sleazy--has all kinds of protective measures established to insure that he does not wind up with a "dog", and the non-overweight woman does whatever she can in her power to make sure she gets a rich guy.A fascinating film to view if you want to see the petty and base sides of human behavior, revealed in all their glory.Definitely recommended.

"Unmade Beds" would have made a wonderful one-hour documentary. Unfortunately, the director made it feature length - about 90 minutes - presumably to get into more theaters. I guess people want an hour and a half of film for their $13. The four well chosen characters kept coming back - eventually too many times. I liked the soundtrack. I hoped for a somewhat uplifting (but not corny) ending. I guess the 40-year-old hottie advanced a square. Too bad for the others. I think the most insightful moment is when the 225 pound lady's friend meekly suggested she lose some weight - whew - did that lady unload! Most people have a problem that is less visible - but many will never work through it.

"Unmade Beds" cleverly uses the motif of the dating game to take a clear-eyed, penetrating look at modern neurosis and how the myriad distractions of urban life mirror our fractured sense of self. The four characters are initially quite sympathetic in their quest for love, but as the film progresses they reveal a pathological sense of self-loathing and meaninglessness, in turn making them very unattractive. It's a very entertaining and vastly underrated film, and the soundtrack is in fact very witty and contemporary. Recommended.

Nicholas Barker gives us a voyeuristic view of the life of four single people living in NYC. At times it feels like a documentary, but the truth is, some parts of the movie were scripted.Although some moments in the movie were brilliantly funny. Barker does a good job of capturing the characters feelings on dating in NYC. If you've ever lived in New York or any other big city, and been single, you'll appreciate this movie. If you've ever thought you were a loser because you couldn't get a date, see this movie. One of the things Barker does in this movie is focus on some negative traits of the characters; almost as if he is mocking them. Therefore making the viewer pity the characters in the movie and life in New York. Over all a funny yet sad comment on single life in the big city.

Cood interesting movie.