Replica (2005)

Dizzying heights of ineptitude, 21 April 2020

Joe, a computer chip salesman (what else would you expect from a James Nguyen film), falls for Dr Evelyn Tyler, the surgeon who performed his kidney transplant.  Their relationship is off to a fantastic start when Dr Tyler is tragically (and hysterically) killed in a car crash. Distraught over his loss, Joe’s emotions are in for another jolt when he meets a woman who looks so much like Dr Tyler, she could be her clone.  

While Replica never reaches the dizzying heights of ineptitude director James Nguyen managed with Birdemic, this is still an amazingly entertaining film - for all the wrong reasons.  As with Birdemic, everything about Replica is about as piss-poor as you’ll find in a movie. If anything, Replica outdoes Birdemic when it comes to acting. Stilted, riciulous dialogue delivered by actors that I”m amazed to discover have any other credits to their name.  My two favs have to be David Nguyen as Detective Le (English is obviously not his first language) and Rick Camp as Dr G (so over-the-top he’s laugh-out-loud funny). It’s all bottom-of-the-barrel stuff and, personally, I’m grateful for it.  

You have to give James Nguyen credit - he may have lacked the resources and talent to pull off his big-screen visions, but that didn’t stop him from trying.  In the end, you’re left with a film that, regardless of the reason, is entertaining enough to hold my interest for almost 90 minutes. Compare that to something like one of Michael Bay’s Transformer movies with millions of dollars at his disposal, the latest in hi-tech special effects, and a cast of name actors and you end up with one incredibly dull-as-dirt film.  Give me James Nguyen over Michael Bay any day of the week. At least I’ll have a good time.

As I’ve always said, I rate films primarily on entertainment value.  Despite all its faults (and they are overwhelming), I can easily give Replica a 6/10.

6/10