Hey folks, Harry here with one last review from Santa Barbara, well... that's not true - Quint has a review coming from there soon that he'll post from New Zealand as soon as he gets his quill an electrical outlet down there. This review claims this film is smack dab as good as THE BIG LEBOWSKI... gasp, gargle, choke, rasp... must see now! Read on...
Hi AICN,
One final review from the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.
Boy howdy, will Quint be pissed that he left our picturesque hamlet early. The closing film of the festival was the world premiere of The Moguls, starring Jeff Bridges, Ted Danson, Joe Pantoliano, etc. about a small town that decides to produce and star in a porn film. The film is absolutely killer, and should be ranked perhaps equal in the pantheon of Jeff Bridges films with...yes, I'm going there...The Big Lebowski.
Jeff Bridges plays Andy Sargentee, the big idea guy in a small town who has never quite connected with a winning proposition; he lost his job (again), was left by his wife (to remarry a much richer guy), and feels like a general loser with his kid. After flipping through a paper in the local bar, his character comes to the realization that a) the porn industry is huge, b) amateur porn is the big thing nowadays, and c) since he has never made a porn film before, he would be an amateur, and therefore, a huge success in this exploding porn sub-genre. The film recounts the exploits of the town as they try to make the film happen.
The movie is a cast comedy and everyone turns in a great performance. You spend a lot of time during the movie trying to figure out where you know that particular face from (Patrick Fugit from Almost Famous, Tim Blake Nelson from O Brother, Where Art Thou, Glenne Headly from Dirty, Rotten Scoundrels, etc.). As far as standouts go, I might point to Joe Pantoliano's character (Some Idiot), the writer/director of the porn flick. It's nice to see him finally get a character that isn't typecast as a jaded, sarcastic [insert seedy, underground profession here]. He hits this one out of the ballpark. Also, William Fichtner (whom I recognized from a really great episode of the West Wing) kicked total ass as Otis, the Church janitor that serves as Executive Producer on the film. He clearly delivers the best lines in the film, and I think will single-handedly be responsible for introducing the verb "to scrump" as a euphemism for shtupping.
Bridges himself is excellent. As he did in Lebowski, he has an uncanny knack for knowing when to provide the big presence in a scene and when to step back and let his cast members shine. The festival's artistic director, when introducing Bridges before the screening, indicated that the Tribeca Film festival has De Niro, and Sundance has Redford, but Santa Barbara has Jeff Bridges. Not a bad place to be, if your cinematic north star is The Dude.
As good as the actors were here, the script was what made the film. This is a movie that will bear repeated viewings, because the laughing in the audience will make you miss some of the fantastic dialogue. You will quote from this movie a lot with your friends. Without getting too specific, the scene where the core characters debate the minimum adult film elements that will be required to make the movie is one of the funniest in any film I've ever seen. The script, and the chemistry among the characters is phenomenal.
Problems with the film? Nothing immediately comes to mind, which is a good sign. I could point to the fact that with an ensemble cast, there will always be actors from whom you expected more. Patrick Fugit didn't have enough lines, and Ted Danson, playing the closet homosexual of the group, was very funny but underutilized as well. It is, furthermore, a questionable artistic decision indeed when you make a move about erotic films, and the only nudity you see is Ted Danson's ass.
I can't wait for this to come out in a major release. If you ever needed confirmation that the Dude continues to abide, see this movie.
And congrats to the film festival for putting on a great series of events.
Best,
defenestrate99
