Barefoot Movie Review

     Have you ever watched a movie that you just want to tell everyone about it? That's how I feel about Barefoot. I just read some reviews about the movie and they were all pretty negative, but seriously, I think the people criticizing it were expecting something super realistic and dark and took the movie way too seriously. It's supposed to be an indie rom-com, not a realistic depiction of gambling addicts and mental patients. Gosh. Some people. Anyway. I just thought it was a really cute movie. It had a rough start and I was honestly about to turn it off if it didn't get better, but it did (get better). The basic plot is: Jay is a complete and utter disappointment to society and to his super rich family. He's a gambler, and a bad one at that, and owes $35,000 to some guy. He's also a total womanizer and just kind of a jerk. He needs to get the money by Friday or else the guys are going to kill him. So he decides to go to his brother's wedding and convince his dad to give him the money. Unfortunately, he lies to his mom and tells her he has this really nice girlfriend who's a nurse and his dad invites Jay to bring the girlfriend along. So now Jay has to find some girl to stand in for him as his girlfriend at his brother's wedding. Since Jay is on parole, he's forced to work as a janitor in a mental hospital. That's where he meets Daisy, a girl raised in complete isolation by her schizophrenic mother. The title of the movie comes from the fact that Daisy never wears shoes. Anyway, after Jay saves her from the creepy janitor one night,  Daisy follows Jay out of the mental hospital. He tries to tell her to just get a cab and go somewhere, but as he's walking away he realizes that he can use her as his girlfriend at his brother's wedding. Wow, okay, this is way more than the basic plot. Anyway, once Jay and Daisy (nice Great Gatsby reference, by the way) arrive in New Orleans at Jay's parents' mansion, things go all right, albeit a little quirky, as Daisy is not really a normal girl. However, when Jay's dad presses Daisy for more information while they're dancing after the wedding, Daisy has a panic attack and a few minutes later it all comes out that Jay is working as a janitor at a mental health institute and Daisy is a patient. The two then get in a cab and go back to Jay's parents' house, where Jay steals his dad's vintage RV and the two then proceed to go on a road trip back to Los Angeles, meanwhile falling in love and avoiding the cops. Jay then gets arrested in a diner seconds after he and Daisy kiss for the first time and he's put in jail and Daisy goes back to the mental hospital. Jay's parents bail him out and Jay goes to see Daisy but the doctor won't let him see her. He then goes to a train station and lies on the tracks and is taken into the mental institute because he claims he's suicidal (really he just wants to see Daisy). Then while at the hospital, he almost gets strangled by the body guard of the guy who he owes money to, but one of the inmates clobbers the guy with a broom and the day is saved. Jay finally convinces the doctor that Daisy isn't crazy; it was her mom who was the crazy one, and the doctor releases Daisy. The ending scene is Daisy and Jay kissing and walking out of the mental hospital.
     Halfway through my super long summary of this movie, I realized how AWFUL this movie sounds. It sounds so random and not funny and weird... but it wasn't. I'm just horrible at describing movies. Just watch the clips.


Day 429 Song Recommendation: "Love Love Love" by Of Monsters and Men. I know I've been recommending a lot of their songs recently, but I thought of this one because it's in the movie.
-SE Wagner
P.S.

Aren't Scott Speedman and Bradley Cooper dead look-alikes??? It's insane!!!