I've never attempted to start my own Internet business, but I sincerely respect those who can make it work. E-tailers such as Amazon, Buy.com and eBay (though the latter is more of a user-reliant site than a standard business) got their start like any other now-famous business or chain: with a simple idea that eventually snowballed into something much larger. In a way, they're like music groups, comic books or independent films: it takes a lot of work to get off the ground, but it even more work to keep the engine running smoothly.

For this reason, there are at least 100 failed experiments for every success story. Once-proud Internet businesses, like so many garage bands, now lay in ruins after burning brightly for a few years (or months…or weeks, even). Right around the turn of the millennium, starting up an online business was a growing trend that spelled success for some and catastrophic failure for others.

Before finally checking out Daniel Gamburg's IPO (2003), the only Internet business-related film I'd seen was Startup.com (2001), a strikingly abstract look at a struggling website and the greedy young hopefuls that tried to make it work. IPO is a different beast entirely, a loose, improvised and enjoyable comedy experiment set in San Francisco during the time when---guess what?---starting your own online business was the cool new thing to do. Seems like as good a time as any, right?

The cast of characters is as wildly varied as their situations and dreams, though they're not all web-related: Charlene (Lee Flores Tsoflias) is looking for romance, Susan (Kerry Gudjohnsen) is longing for a fancy car, Sophia (Marie Bouquet) is hoping for a bright future, while there's a group of other folks struggling to get their new website, HotTot.com, off the ground. The interplay is fast and funny, the situations they get themselves into are generally interesting and the fact that it's all improvised earns it a few bonus points. It's been compared to current TV shows like The Office (both versions, I suppose) or even Curb Your Enthusiasm for good reason, where it's tough to decide whether the viewer should laugh or feel sorry for the hapless protagonists. Either way, it's all in good fun.

IPO (which stands for "Initial Public Offering", or the first time a company's stock is offered to the public) is an interesting experiment that any fans of unique comedy might just enjoy. The DVD does what it can with the film's extremely limited source material, though it's disappointing that the disc offers literally nothing else to support the main feature. In any case, let's take a closer look:

Menu Design, Presentation & Packaging:

Seen above, the menu designs for IPO aren't exactly complex, while the lack of set-up options and bonus features keeps everything up front. This 90-minute film has been divided into 16 chapters and no apparent layer change was detected during playback. The actual packaging is also very basic, as this one-disc release is housed in a standard black keepcase. No inserts have been included, while both the cover and disc art follow the same basic design scheme as the menu itself.

Nothing to report here. No trailers, interviews, or anything else besides the main feature. It might've been helpful to hear a director or cast commentary, but no such luck.

The movie itself is genuinely interesting---and the DVD's technical presentation does what it can---but there's simply not enough meat on this release to consider it a solid blind buy, even though the asking price is fairly reasonable. With that in mind, IPO is still a very unique experiment in the often-lackluster comedy genre, so you might want to give it a spin over the weekend. Rent It.