Product Description

SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE'S Julia Sweeney has teamed with producer Quentin Tarantino (JACKIE BROWN, PULP FICTION) to create this uplifting motion picture presentation of Julia's hilarious stand-up performance, GOD SAID HA! Recently single, Julia was looking forward to the future in a cozy new bachelorette home. But then, her idyllic life was instantly changed when her brother ... along with their parents ... moved into her tiny place for a year she'll never forget! Acclaimed by critics and honored as Best Picture at the Seattle International Film Festival -- Julia's infectious sense of humor allows us to find moments of extreme hilarity in some of life's most challenging days!

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10213 in DVD
• Brand: Disney
• Released on: 2003-05-06
• Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 85 minutes

Amazon.com
Comic, actress, and Saturday Night Live alumni Julia Sweeney had just moved to a cozy little bungalow in Los Angeles. Her life was buzzing along quite nicely, thank you very much, and she was planning days of writing, evenings of dinner parties and smart conversations, and nights of quiet solitude. "That's when God said 'Ha!'" confesses Sweeney in her monologue-cum-one woman Broadway show and for the next 80 minutes she shares the intimate experiences of an emotionally turbulent year in her life. Her brother is diagnosed with cancer and takes up residence in her bedroom, her parents move down from Washington and into the guest room, and the adult Sweeney is suddenly reliving her childhood in a bizarre nuclear family flashback. The magic of God Said Ha! lies in her loving lampoon of the details surrounding an inherently tragic situation: learning to deal with the foibles of her parents all over again, sneaking a boyfriend into her ridiculously crowded house like an embarrassed teenager, turning her brother's chemotherapy visits into giggly family outings. Sweeney is in total command of the stage, more like a host giving a cockeyed tour of her life than a monologist, and her easy manner and relaxed tone puts the audience at ease. It's a brave, funny, and irresistibly involving film, like the reflective confession of a dear friend sharing intimate details of her life with a mischievous grin. Tragedy has never been so respectfully hilarious. --Sean Axmaker

Customer Reviews

Therapeutic and Funny Too...
There's two types of humor, in my opinion. There's surface humor: that's slapstick, the Farrely brothers, Jim Carrey (most of the time), Airplane!, and Carrottop. Then there's deeper humor, that can be funny on the surface, but has something deeper beneath it: The Cohen Brothers, Being John Malkovich, Catch-22, George Carlin...you get the idea.

Julia Sweeny's one-woman-show-turned-movie (produced by Quentin Tarantino) is that second type of humor; deeper, and funny in a way that not only makes you smile on the outside but (pardon the cheesiness) also smile on the inside. This show/movie, "God Said Ha!", is basically the story of how her brother got cancer (lymphoma) and moved in with her, so she could take care of him. Pretty soon after, their parents move in with them, and Julia Sweeny does a great job of immitating her mother in such a way that we laugh, but also recognize the truth in her recreation.

Some of what Julia discusses is terribly upsetting; like when her brother has to have a spiget-like thing installed in his head so they can get the medicine directly into his cranium. But her brother retains his humor throughout this terrible experience, and after the doctor tells him that everyone who gets the-spiget thing in their head really loves it, he goes around the house saying, "I absolutely LOVE my (i forget what its called!)." (It's a lot of funnier when Julia tells it).

Recently, my mom's really good friend Stephanie had to have a tumor the size of a honeydew removed. I told my mom to tell Stephanie to rent this movie, because it's a lesson in how to use humor to get through life's most awful situations. So if you have a few dollars to spare, or just need some cheering up, make "God Said Ha!" your next movie purchase.

Loved the stage show, had to get the book
Since I've had cancer, lots of people give me books on the topic. It's not often I actually read one all the way through, and the only one I really LOVED was "Bald in the Land of Big Hair" by Joni Rodgers, because it's really hilarious and not about cancer so much as it's about the rollercoaster of life. This book is a close second to "Bald" -- funny and able to be really cool about life and death issues. I couldn't stand that Pat skit on SNL, but Julia is a wonderful writer!

God Said Ha!
As an Oncology Nurse I was surprised to find myself laughing out loud to the point of tears. Having been in the places where Ms. Sweeney explores her experiences, she gave me a whole new appreciation for what we expect our clients to do. Everything she said happens. The world from the practitioner is one way, but it's seeing the story through both her brothers and then Ms. Sweeney's own journey which made me realize some of our shortcomings and how we also excel. I love working in Oncology ... that sounds strange I'm sure, especially when you hear that I'm a pediatric specialist. Hearing Ms. Sweeney's story put back my belief in all that we do to help and what we expect our people to live through. Yes, it's mostly a hellish ride, but there are those moments when laughter is just the only response. I admire Ms. Sweeney's courage, I love her humour, and appreciate that she was able to take such serious events and share them in her own style so that we, the audience can be with her through this rollercoaster ride of emotions. This movie is for the cancer survivor, the lovers of those who have fought the battle, and those friends who never knew what to say when all you had to do was simply be there. ENJOY!