Loners

Plastic. It is light, flexible, universally usable; it stinks and twists when exposed to heat. It's better not to confront this film with reality and think of it as a set of gags, because all this talk about generational testimony and whatever... I don't know, maybe I live in another world. But Loners seemed to me to be a backdrop construct, where the pot smoking is actually quite a fun thing, where everyone is young, beautiful, plastic. Even that solitude is something that our young and restless heroes undergo out of boredom, just another fun experiment in a sterile cardboard world. The highlight is Jiří Macháček, who is really funny at first, but when I tried watching the film again, his character started to get on my nerves. Not to mention some dialogues that are so obviously "funny" that they deprive me of peace of mind. It's not even a film anymore, it's exhibitionism. One of the more vital storylines is definitely the one with Ivan Trojan's well-acted loser and a few good and slightly chilling points (the scene with the Japanese)... (28/01/2004)

Loners impresses at first glance with its (almost) short story plot structure that seems to evoke overseas filmmaking, helped by the choice of soundtrack and the play with imagery, but for most of the running time I felt the film was superficial and didn't really get down to the nitty gritty, at least on a dramatic level. The comic moments were mainly (and quite possibly only) provided by the permanently stoned Jiří Macháček, whose performance was rightly awarded the Czech Lion. Ivan Trojan didn't really fit the role of the crazed stalker and the line with the Japanese was completely out of place. Given its cult status and high ratings, I was expecting something more from Loners. (12/08/2020)

I can basically sign Marigold's comment, my objections are very similar. It is an artificial product that is miles away from what I know from real life, and even though I cannot exclude that similar human types exist somewhere, I have definitely not met them. I do not deny a certain entertainment value of the film, although those characters are so "cool" and they utter such unbelievable lines that I find them unsympathetic. As a generational statement, it definitely does not hold up for me, but otherwise, Samotáři hover somewhere between two and three stars. Overall impression: 45%. (18/06/2006)

What comes to mind when I think back about Loners? First of all, probably the stoned Machacek, who plays his unbelievable role in a completely believable and natural way, the dishevelled Trojan grasping for his ex-girlfriend Jitka Schneiderová, Němec and Maciuchova having dinner among Japanese tourists, Rašilov and Mitevska waiting for the arrival of a UFO, and all this in such an entertaining and novel package and supported by impeccably selected music that put David Ondříček in a very high position in the hit parade of Czech post-revolutionary films. And it can be much better on the second viewing :-) 4 and 1/2* (15/07/2013)

Zelenka and Ondříček proved that even here, a cult can arise during its own premiere, to which Mucha's perfect soundtrack and the acting gala presentation of the trio Macháček-Trojan-Rašilov contributed the most. In order for the lines to survive two decades thanks to a film created in the third millennium, it simply requires more than just luck and a bit of talent. (18/03/2006)