Don Peyote is a 2014 American comedy film written and directed by Dan Fogler and Michael Canzoniero. It stars Fogler as a slacker who has a spiritual awakening and becomes obsessed with conspiracy theories.

Don Peyote
DVD cover
Directed by
Written by
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyJohn Inwood
Edited byDan Bush
Music byBen Lovett
Production
companies
  • Highland Film Group
  • Studio 13
  • Wingman Productions
  • Redwire Pictures
  • Casadelic Pictures
Distributed byXLrator
Release date
  • May 16, 2014 (2014-05-16)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Plot

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Warren (Dan Fogler) is an unemployed artist and pot head who has crazy dreams. That is the only remarkable thing about him until a day comes when a crazy homeless man confronts him on the street. From that day on, Warren descends into himself, insanity and a confusion of mind and body, spurred on by drugs, along with Doomsday and conspiracy theories.

Cast

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Production

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Fogler recruited the large cast of cameos in part by allowing them to co-write their characters and improvise. The film was shot between 2010 and 2013.[1]

Release

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XLrator gave Don Peyote a limited release on May 16, 2014,[2] and released it on DVD on July 8, 2014.[3]

Reception

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Rotten Tomatoes, a review aggregator, reports that only one of thirteen surveyed critics (8%) gave the film a positive rating; the average rating was 3.5/10.[4] Metacritic rated it 14/100 based on eight reviews.[5] Sheri Linden of The Hollywood Reporter wrote, "To call Don Peyote a mess would be putting too fine a point on it. The hallucinatory odyssey of a conspiracy-theory-obsessed New Yorker is a bad trip, destination nowhere."[6] Daniel M. Gold of The New York Times called it "a cautionary tale of drug-fueled decline" that may not have been realized by its creators.[7] Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Times called it "a tedious, incoherent look at a paranoid stoner's emotional and spiritual unraveling".[8] Calum Marsh of The Village Voice wrote that the film becomes increasingly incomprehensible as time goes on.[9] Christopher Schobert of Indiewire rated it D and wrote, "Perhaps in the hands of a Charlie Kaufman or Michel Gondry, this story could move beyond the unexceptional, but in Fogler's hands, Don Peyote is a slow-moving dirge."[10] Vadim Rizov of The Dissolve rated it 0/5 stars and wrote, "In practice, Dan Fogler's sophomore directorial effort (co-directed/written by Michael Canzoniero) is merely execrable, segueing incoherently from one stand-alone fragment of a terrible movie to another."[11]

References

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  1. ^ Biese, Alex (2014-05-23). "Dan Fogler talks 'Don Peyote'". Courier News. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  2. ^ "Don Peyote". ComingSoon.net. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  3. ^ Mack, Andrew (2014-07-03). "Giveaway: Win A DON PEYOTE DVD And Poster Signed By Dan Folger". Twitch Film. Archived from the original on 2014-08-24. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  4. ^ "Don Peyote (2014)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  5. ^ "Don Peyote". Metacritic. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  6. ^ Linden, Sheri (2015-05-16). "'Don Peyote': Film Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  7. ^ Gold, Daniel M. (2014-05-15). "Tilting at Genres". The New York Times. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  8. ^ Goldstein, Gary (2014-05-15). "Review In the unappealing 'Don Peyote,' end times can't come too soon". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  9. ^ Marsh, Calum (2014-05-14). "Don Peyote Should Remember Nobody Likes to Listen to Someone Ramble While High". The Village Voice. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  10. ^ Schobert, Christopher (2014-05-13). "Review: 'Don Peyote' Starring & Co-Directed By Dan Fogler Is A Bust". Indiewire. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
  11. ^ Rizov, Vadim (2014-05-12). "Don Peyote". The Dissolve. Retrieved 2015-04-17.
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