Sno Cone, Inc. (2008)

Cooling Down

By Jeffrey M. Anderson

Buy Sno Cone, Inc. on DVD

Travis Knapp's Sno Cone, Inc. is a perfect movie to stumble upon on TV during one of those lazy summer days. It's warm, amiable, inviting and amusing, though it doesn't put any great demands on your brain or your funny bone. You can watch and kill 90 minutes and not feel too bad about it. A quartet of slackers works as assistant stockbrokers in an established Texas firm, and their entire paycheck depends on successful cold calls. There's Sonny (Ryan Carnes), who looks and acts a great deal like Brad Pitt. Then we get the friends who are defined by their cultural and social origins: Latin Juan (Luis Jose Lopez), Italian Tony (Steve LiGambi) and gay Steve (Dustin Doering), who is also the brown-noser of the group. Basically, they all stink at their jobs and notice that, during lunch, the local sno-cone stand is doing boffo business. So they decide to pool their money to buy their own stand. That's about it. Their business never really takes off, nor does it flop, and no one seems to care much either way. It's about as lazy as an office-comedy can get, but it's likeably, relaxingly lazy. (It's filled with sunshine and cute girls.) The movie's above-the-title star, Tony Sirico from "The Sopranos," plays boss Bob Beasley, who gets to act mean and pick on all the boys. And Morgan Fairchild, looking roughly the same as she did 20 years ago, plays a bitchy second-in-command. (Formerly titled The Sno Cone Stand, Inc.)

With: Tony Sirico, Morgan Fairchild, Ryan Carnes, Luis Jose Lopez, Steve LiGambi, Nicole Lin Taylor, Eloise DeJoria, John Paul DeJoria, Michael Dell, Dustin Doering, Julie Holland, Jamison Lee Stewart, Alyssa Bryer, Dian Childs, Megan Devine, Lucien Douglas, Katy Dunlap, Kendra Felmly, Joann Fields, Zachary Flores, Marty Herzog, Cynthia Jarvis, Will Johnson, Robert Earl Keen, Austin Lux, Anne Nabors, Amanda Phillips, Emmy Robbin, Scott A. Stevens, Steve Uzzell
Written by: Travis Knapp
Directed by: Travis Knapp
MPAA Rating: PG-13 for language, sexual content, a brief disturbing image and a mild drug reference
Running Time: 85 minutes
Date: June 29, 2009