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Startup.com | startup_l
DOTCOMMISERATE Tuzman and Herman let the cameras see everything in ''startup.com''

Credits

Release Date: May 25, 2001; Rated: R; Video Release Date: Sep 18, 2001; Genre: Documentary; With: Tom Herman and Kaleil Isaza Tuzman; Distributor: Artisan Entertainment
A
By Noah Robischon
Noah Robischon
Noah Robischon
Noah Robischon is a senior writer for EW

The moral of Startup.com -- never let cash come between friends -- would be trite if it weren't so timely. And yet there isn't a more intimate obituary for the dotcom revolution than this tale of two high school pals–turned–business partners (Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman) whose dreams are reduced to moneygrubbing rubble by the Internet zeitgeist. This thoroughly modern tragicomedy, starring two of the most likeable but despicable characters since Tyler Durden's split personality, is played out through stressful phone calls, eccentric company rituals, and uncomfortable gym-room confrontations. And somehow directors Chris Hegedus and Jehane Nouijam are there with cameras first thing in the morning, in the bathroom, and on the road, staying awake way past the end of any sane person's working day to capture it all for this too-real documentary. What the film forgets to mention is that the Internet hasn't ruined everyone's life, and that Herman and Tuzman are no more culpable than the rest of us for being blinded by its seemingly unlimited potential. But there was a time not so long ago when nobody admitted to liking disco either.


Posted Sep 13, 2001
 

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