Fan Review by Mari, Nov. 2001
I was sooooo disappointed in this film for the most part. Now, it could very well be that I didn't like this movie only because I was hoping that Jeremy Sisto and Eric Michael Cole would have some decently-sized roles here, but their footage amounted to about two minutes worth...not enough by far!!!
But I don't think I'm being really unfair when I say that this film was really boring and could have been a heck of a lot more fun. Aside from Alan Cox in the lead role of George, most of the cast of this film was boring.
The premise probably started off very cleverly when in pre production, but as far as the result goes, big yawn. George is a "documentary" filmmaker who goes to a film festival not to compete, but just to film the festival and submit his resulting film to the BBC, who in the past, have already rejected his past efforts.
The contestants of this film festival, named for a young man (Garrett Wang) who died while filming a film of his own, are all self-absorbed jerks. There is a conceited Latina, a bubble headed Valley girl (Rachel True), a smart alecky blonde (Angeline Ball), an Arab/Mid-East guy, a Brooklyn Jew guy, a guy who wears a paper bag on his head and several others who are so boring that I can't remember what they're like.
George plans to interview each contestant about their film. Part of the plot is that all of the films are hideously bad. Not just production wise, but acting wise, story wise, everything wise. The worst plot hole, however, is that we don't get to see much or any of these films. For instance, Conceited Latina's film. We don't get to see one second of it, and we end up not caring, since she is a royal bitch who treats George like shit before being found murdered in the street nearby. From there, several other amateur filmmakers are found dead. We are treated to more God-awful films...the story of a single mom by Bubble Head; a female Hamlet story by Smart Aleck Blonde, an Arab version of "Pulp Fiction" by the Arab guy, a piece on Brooklyn Jews by the Brooklyn Jew guy and a story about some guy with a bag over his head laying dead on the ground. Ho hum...by this point I'm so bored I can't even pretend I'm interested in following the story...or stories, as the case seems to be...
Natasha Lyonne plays Rosemary, yet another contestant at the festival. She dresses in black, and this is never explained. Lyonne's performance is just as dull as just about everyone else's. It could very well be the way she was written, and maybe Rosemary turned out just the way they wanted, but...
Cox, as stated before, seems to be the only person in this film about films that has any enthusiasm.
This film lacked so much. It was like bland tofu in need of some flavoring...maybe a more exciting physical setting??? (Took place mostly in some building) Livlier actors??? The story itself was probably fine...someone wants everyone dead, and Cox is looking for motives and clues. But the way this thing was executed just doesn't interest me.
Who knows??? Maybe I'm full of manure and just wishing there would have been MORE footage of Jeremy Sisto and Eric Michael Cole...screaming, crying, strangling, dying, coming back to life, dying again...who cares??? They could have been making absurd faces at the camera and I would have been happy to watch.
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Review by Mari Weir November 2001
Midi: "I Can't Go For That"
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