Budding Prospects (2017 TV Movie) User Reviews (3)

Terry Zwigoff takes on pot culture and buddy humor

[Mike_Olson · 7/10 · 19 March 2017]

"In 1983, three hapless guys from San Francisco are lured from their sex and drugs lifestyle to the countryside to grow marijuana."

Amusing pilot episode of a possible new series from Amazon Studios. The director Terry Zwigoff has done some unique films. Notably, CRUMB, the documentary about the underground cartoonist R. Crumb (great film), and many will no doubt remember the edgy Christmas film BAD SANTA. Also GHOST WORLD is being released by Criterion in a couple months.

BUDDING PROSPECTS is based on the book by T.C. Boyle, an author I've found interesting in the past as well.

Hard to tell too much from a 30-minute pilot episode but it has a pretty good vibe; I was smiling through most of it. The humor stops short of becoming overly silly or stereotyped. Hopefully it will be fleshed out as an Amazon series. Based on Zwigoff's credits alone it will be interesting to see where it goes.

I am not sold (yet?)

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 18 May 2017]

"Budding Prospects" is a half hour live action short film and actually a pilot episode for what will or will not be a new Amazon series depending on how much audiences like it. The director is Oscar nominee Terry Zwigoff and the cast does not really include big names. The only one I recognized was Will Sasso and I personally always find it nice to see him in films, should definitely be having a way bigger career than he does. Anyway, this story here plays several decades in the past and we find out a group of friends from California who perhaps start their own business. One of the core comedic references is that their business is all about marijuana. It is always tough to say from one episode only if this was a good watch, but I personally would go for a thumbs-down I am afraid. Maybe Zwigoff also should have been in charge of the script here and not the camera, then it would have turned out better. Sure the jokes weren't all bad here and there, but I found the characters (especially the females) really bland and uninspired with their interactions. Everybody seemed pretty much interchangeable from what I saw here. I hope that if this gets actually picked up, then they will step things up a lot. They sure have to if they want this to make any waves whatsoever.

Budding Prospects Never Buds

[ibrian · 4/10 · 1 April 2017]

While in 1983 San Francisco, three guys get an opportunity to run a grow operation and make bank. This 30-minute piece goes no further and presents no focus beyond just that. Snooze. Some of the more experienced actors give a decent performance but nothing feels developed or of any quality in the slow moving Budding Prospects when so many other shorts deliver intrigue and grasp in only ten or so minutes. I really wanted to like it but just couldn't find the grounds nor to watch another minute that seemed like the past five minutes.