Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with the first SUNDANCE review to come in. When Moriarty read the premise to ELLIE PARKER, he told me that it sounds like a feature version of HBO's UNSCRIPTED. I can't say one way or the other since I haven't seen one little episode of that show, but I think we can all agree that the cynical look at Hollywood from inside the system is an idea that has been well explored. I'm curious to hear other reactions on the film, just to see what the consensus is. I've heard from a couple people that Naomi Watts is supposed to be excellent in the movie. One guy even went so far to say that her work in ELLIE PARKER blows away her work in MULHOLLAND DR., which I find hard to believe, but if it's true then this is certainly one to look out for. The below review doesn't lead me to believe that's the case, though. Anyway, on with Grib and his opinion on the purty face of Ms. Naomi Watts!
Harry,
Grib here with my second annual review from Sundance. Caught the premiere of Naomi Watts' new flick "Ellie Parker" today. Wow, is this an uneven film. It's alternately hilarious, terrible and dead boring. Watts plays a struggling actress in L.A. We follow her on several auditions in real time. We spend an awful lot of time with her in her car driving to and from these auditions. We see her cry about ten times. We see her vomit blue ice cream (don't ask). The film is shot in shaky handheld digital verite style, which is essentially pointless given that not much at all happens. Also pointless is a cameo by Chevy Chase, who has had so much cosmetic work that he can no longer move his facial muscles. The film attempts to work as a commentary on how L.A. can destroy people, and also to make a statement about L.A. as an ecological disaster. If I have to see these points driven home, I would rather watch "The Player," "Short Cuts" and "Safe" ten times each than sit through "Ellie Parker" again. Although there are some really funny moments (the characterizations of film industry types are particularly dead-on and hilarious), these are few and far between, and cannot salvage this puzzling effort by Watts, who is one of the most exciting actresses working today. She is fine in the film, but I spent the whole movie thinking "Why did she do this?" I'd have a hard time seeing this one getting wide release. I'll report later on other films, including "The Dying Gaul" (Peter Sarsgaard), "The Marilyn Hotchkiss Ballroom Dancing and Charm School" (Marisa Tomei), "Pretty Persuasion" (Evan Rachel Wood) and "The Upside of Anger" (Kevin Costner and Joan Allen).
Thanks, Grib. I look forward to hearing about all of those flicks you mention. We are always on the lookout for Sundance reviews, so if you gots one or two you'd like to share, drop an email to harry@aintitcool.com!
