Rating: 
Summary: How about a review of Luanne Brown's appaling review?
Review: First off, I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and find it bizarre that it merits an Amazon editorial review of such shabby professionalism. Who is Luanne Brown? Why is she reviewing a movie that she clearly doesn't comprehend, and how can she maintain a job in a field that requires fluency in the English language? Not only is this review a total hack job, she also repeats spurious assumptions in her review that have no basis in the film that I watched, entitled 'Fast, Cheap & Out of Control' by Errol Morris.
Does George Mendonca really follow his passion in topiary gardening 'because he can'? Is Dave Hoover really filled with 'hand-trembling fear' dealing with the animals to which he's dedicated his life's work? She manages to follow such ridiculous notions by dismissing Rodney Brooks as a 'real wacko', hardly deserving given the fact that he is a robotics expert at MIT and Luanne is a hack reviewer on the Internet.
Why would I bother wasting my time with this? Well Amazon is unfortunately where a lot of people will check for information about products before making a purchase, and in this respect, I believe an editorial review should be balanced and fair. Unfortunately, Luanne's review comes across as a film student/wannabe filmmaker crying foul because someone's breaking the rules she learned in editing class. Sorry, it is not 'out-of-control', Errol Morris happens to be completely 'in control' and more than a 'voyeurestic peek', this is a captivating work of art that merits repeated viewings. Yes, it's weird and obscure, but that's the point --- why the 'rich and famous' would be interesting is anyone's guess.
On a final note, I found Caleb Sampson's original soundtrack a fine piece of work and a perfect compliment to the images Morris presents us. It is not 'blaring', or even out of place. If you want blaring out of place soundtracks, check George Fenton's work with the BBC. Please, Amazon, if you're going to post editorial reviews, please do it responsibly.
Rating: 
Summary: Funny. Challenging. Moving.
Review: Get ready for some surprises with this one. When I began watching this documentary about the lives of four men and the work to which each devotes his life, I laughed a lot. They were funny to me, these odd people and their singular obsessions. I laughed, then I started feeling a little guilty, voyeuristic, laughing at them while they were so naked about the things that moved them. And I felt a little angry with Errol Morris for exploiting them. Then slowly Morris starts overlapping one man's story with another's video, and I realize that he IS in control, his sincerety intact. Far from making mockeries of these men, he takes their disparate interests and views and makes a profound statement about life and what is at the center of it. Very funny. Very challenging. Very moving. And I fell in love with the robot maker.
Rating:
Summary: Bloody fantastic!
Review: I couldn't buy this movie fast enough after my first viewing.
Rating:
Summary: 'documentary'is accessible meditation on human condition
Review: I guess this movie is a documentary - it features four (probably real) men speaking about their work. Footage of the men speaking directly to the camera is interwoven with images of them doing their work. There are other kinds of images as well, from cartoons and old movies. The men describe their work with the noblest, loveliest geekiness. The are absorbed, fascinated, knowledgeable and sincere about what they do. The details are compelling. The film moves among the men, gathering their words and images and combining them in a new way. With humor and emotional immediacy, all human endeavor is called into question, with special attention to our complicated relationship with nature, our desire for life after death, and believe it or not folks, what it means to be alive.
Rating: 
Summary: Wake me when it's over
Review: I literally started falling asleep during this movie. I had heard it was wonderful, but I must say it isn't nearly as good as everyone has made it out to be. Take a look at the four men who are the subject of the film. Sorry, folks, they ain't all that interesting. A guy who cuts bushes to look like animals. Yawn. A guy who studies mole rats. Whatever. A guy who trains lions. Zzzzzzzzzz. There is no grand statement about life to be found here. It is all rather mundane stuff masquerading as "deep" insight into the human condition. Needless to say, I think the breathless reviews claiming that this movie is "brilliant" and that "it changed my life" are preposterous. In short, this is a mildy diverting movie that I shall forget as soon as the final credits roll. Perhaps its greatest achievement is to show just how easy it is to fool people into believing a mediocre film is a work of genius. Leave this one on the store shelf.
Rating:
Summary: It's not about "weird," it's about "life"
Review: I purchased this video expecting from the description to watch "weirdos" in hopeless, inconsequentual pursuits, only to find a film that makes a strong statement on "life." The juxtaposition of the rat moles going about their core, instinctive routines and the scientest attempting to find reason in them; the lion tamer, attempting to control the core, instinctive behaviors of his "actors,"; the topiary gardener, attempting to shape "life" from the instinctive and natural growth of his shrubs; and the robot engineer, attempting to recreate "instinctive" reflexes --life -- in his creations. The overwhelming question the viewer at the end of this film must ask is not "aren't they a bunch of weirdos," but is "why do I behave the way I do?" All the segments show humans controlling and analyzing life and behavior in their own way. Put it all together, and one must wonder if there's not someone controlling their actions. Or, if it's possible for man to understand the complex intricacies of what "life" really is. Don't buy this film if you want to see a freak show. These people are not freaks. They are all people attempting to grasp a little control and understanding of this thing we call life.
Rating:
Summary: It's not about "weird," it's about "life"
Review: I purchased this video expecting from the description to watch "weirdos" in hopeless, inconsequentual pursuits, only to find a film that makes a strong statement on "life." The juxtaposition of the rat moles going about their core, instinctive routines and the scientest attempting to find reason in them; the lion tamer, attempting to control the core, instinctive behaviors of his "actors,"; the topiary gardener, attempting to shape "life" from the instinctive and natural growth of his shrubs; and the robot engineer, attempting to recreate "instinctive" reflexes --life -- in his creations. The overwhelming question the viewer at the end of this film must ask is not "aren't they a bunch of weirdos," but is "why do I behave the way I do?" All the segments show humans controlling and analyzing life and behavior in their own way. Put it all together, and one must wonder if there's not someone controlling their actions. Or, if it's possible for man to understand the complex intricacies of what "life" really is. Don't buy this film if you want to see a freak show. These people are not freaks. They are all people attempting to grasp a little control and understanding of this thing we call life.
Rating:
Summary: Best Documentary I've ever seen! Morris is a genius!
Review: I was blown away by the symbolic connections and perfect cinematography of this film... everything comes together so well and fits so perfectly... I found myself exclaiming "OH MY GOD" throughout the movie because it is so enlightening and thought-provoking.
Rating: 
Summary: .
Review: If you saw the trailer for this film, then you pretty much have the jist of the whole thing. The interviews are interesting enough, but the quirky old film clips and the collage aesthetic of everything else get a bit tiresome after a while. Some fascinating ideas and analogies, and worthwhile for those things, but the way it's put together isn't quite so captivating.
Rating:
Summary: The best and least expected meaning-of-life film I¿ve seen.
Review: It confuses me how a documentary can stroll in and bump La Dolce Vita, Barton Fink and Delicatessen down 1 notch on my top 10 list. In the first third of the film I reckoned the film to be just a gorgeous montage. A topiary gardener, a robot engineer, a mole-rat expert and a lion tamer... each doing their own bizarre thing. Visually great and certainly interesting. But at the midpoint the movie became alive for me. The passion the characters have for their respective activity forces the viewer to become a fifth character, a ghost eccentric facing the screen. Morris not only validates your passion, but makes you repent for not being more intense. Each day you've spent not doing what you love seems very wasted. And the remainder of your life becomes a resource that you ought not to squander. "Fast, Cheap and Out of Control" subtly and generously leads anyone in the audience equipped with a gut, a heart and a brain to wake up and feel alive. This film melds what makes David Salle a great painter with what makes Gerald Stern great poet. Morris will certainly become known as a master.
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