"Changeland" Seth Green's Directorial Debut | As I Watch It

by Rhett Rhodes, the only writer

Changeland (2019)

Hey, I'm back so soon. I'm going to get blitzed and watch Changeland, Seth Green's newest movie that he wrote, directed, and starred in. I'm pretty sure he produced that shit too, but I didn't read that far, nor did I even get to the title sequence. I'm 7 seconds in right now and about to shit myself. I had been anticipating this film to release for a few years now. I always saw it was in development, then pre-production, post, etc. And now, so far under the radar that Jimmy Hoffa's body is scared to be found, Changeland has released. Under my fucking nose like a mustache. I wanted to see this because I've been a Seth Green fan, a Breckin Meyer fan, and a  Macaulay Culkin fan since I was able to wipe my ass. As a young child, Austin Powers, Family Guy, and Without a Paddle were some of my favorite things and I have Seth Green to thank for that. I'm expecting greatness here with this one, and it takes a lot to disappoint me. Unless you do hook-ups, then you're a disappoint to almost everybody for the rest of your life.

Without further ado, let's check this shit out and hopefully it's amazing. I rented it on Amazon for $4.99. SPOILERS!!! Lots of them shits too. Beware...

00:10:05

Pausing this bad bitch at 10 minutes in. Fresh as fuck. So, Dan (Breckin Meyer) and Brandon (Seth Green) take a trip to Thailand. From my understanding, this was supposed to be a trip for Brandon and his wife Vanessa to go on for their anniversary, but she (somehow) couldn't go so Brandon invited his ol' pal Dan. They haven't seen each other for awhile, but their conversation in the airport sounded like they had it yesterday. Brandon suspects Vanessa of having sex with her guitar teacher, and it's very awkward because he paid for the teacher and the guitar. That's ultra-fucked cucked and ready to be sucked. Arriving to their fancy ass Thailand hotel where the clerk speaks fluent English, Dan and Brandon ask for separate rooms, but the clerk suspects them of being homosexual and gives them two rooms that are connected. What a nice guy.

Seth Green in Changeland

00:12:40

This is turning into something kind of bittersweet now and I'm not against it. Dan is now turning their sudden but awkward trip into a way to get Brandon through his tough times. I also wanted to point out now that this whole movie looks like it's going to be something unique. I mean, Seth Green's character is so petite, it almost makes you grind your teeth down to the gums.

00:32:31

Okay, hmm. Interesting. While eating dinner, Brandon tells Dan that he actually knows for sure that Vanessa is cheating and that the trip wasn't actually for his anniversary. After discovering his wife was fucking him over hardcore, he packed and left and didn't say a word to anyone except Dan. One thing I don't get though, is why Brandon even ordered the honeymoon suite in the first place if the trip wasn't even for his wife? You know?
Anyway, Brenda Song from Zack and Cody is really hot and is now in the picture. She plays Pen, who works at the resort as a tour guide and already I can tell she has a thing for Brandon. Oh no, now it's real as fuck.
Brandon and Dan are fighting this entire tour ride about little things that shouldn't matter that much. And Brandon gets upset so Dan gives him a pal hug.
So far, the vibe is pretty cool with the movie. I think it's interesting seeing Breckin and Seth in a movie that looks like a Netflix Indie film. I'm not even mocking that, I actually really fucking like that style of film making. Okay, un-pausing this bitch right now.

Great pals.

00:48:03

Macaulay finally joins the fun at about 35 minutes in and he's the next tour guide as they take them to search for coral. MGMT "Time to Pretend" starts playing a minute later and that's when you know it's going to be some good shit. Brandon feels like a coward for not jumping off one of the cliffs into the water like Dan did so they take a walk to a waterfall and Brandon swims underneath. He swims back to Dan awkwardly then, with tears in his eyes, says he wants to go home now. I'm confused but intrigued by what in the world I'm fucking missing the point of right now.

01:12:27

I see how this movie is now. Okay, Dan and Brandon go with Ian (Macaulay Culkin) and the other couple from the tour to another part of the island where a big crazy party is happening and it's the fucking shit. Brandon begins to have fun for the first time in this entire fucking movie and they meet Martin who is played by WWE Superstar Randy Orton and he plays this big dude who somehow can sense that Brandon is having a shit time. He declares it the best night of their lives and it sort of happens that way as the characters, especially Brandon, see what life can be, what it should be, and how he wants to live it. Brandon and Dan smoke a joint under an umbrella in the rain and then Brandon offers a Thai dude a boxing match that the Thai dude asked for from Brandon earlier, but Brandon declined. Now, in the ring, through 3 rounds, Dan teaches and helps Brandon learn to fight each time a round ends. The Thai dude wins, but Brandon doesn't care as the Thai runs the fuck over and starts hugging Brandon, calling him his brother. What a whacky and fucking wild party my G's.
Anyway, the entire group of them, Pen, the other tour guide Dory who Dan likes that I never mentioned, Martin, the couple, Ian, Brandon and Ian all take shots.
Splash right into the next scene like, "the fuck happened".

01:25:42 FINAL RUNTIME

... wow. So the whole movie basically ends with Brandon and Pen kissing and becoming a thing and then literally simultaneously and this is wild... Dan kisses and becomes a thing with Dory. Saw that one coming down main street in a clown car. It was a pretty obvious affectionate thing I saw starting and it was nice, tender, but nice. Dan and Brandon hug before going back to their separate rooms and Brandon sits on the hotel bed and calls Vanessa for the first time in I don't even know how long. 3 days I think? Anyway, the whole point of the movie was pretty sweet. Two estranged life long friends take a trip and discover that life is what you want it to be, be who you want. One of those things, you know?

Brenda Song is pretty hot.

FINAL THOUGHTS

So, I actually enjoyed this movie quite a bit. I thought it was very interesting. It starts off with me questioning whether or not I like any of these characters at all, then near the middle I like these characters, and the characters that get introduced as it gets further into the movie. The adventure and all the sights they see and the bond was pretty fun overall. I hope Seth Green experiments further with directing feature films. I do also like that this movie was not a complete comedy, it also had strong dramatic elements and adventure elements on top of that.

I'll give the film a 8/10. Probably would watch again. But I don't know.
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