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The Big Picture by Richard Natale If you've ever been mangled by the Hollywood machine, The Big Picture is for you. Whether you're on the inside or the periphery of the industry, you're likely to find that first-time director Christopher Guest (who wrote the film with pals Michael Varhol and Michael McKean) has made a minor but charmingly observant satire about the grand folly of the moviemaking business. The Big Picture's big problem, however, is that if you don't know Hollywood, a great deal of the film's pointed humor will pass you by. Guest & Co. capture rhythms, subtle (and not so subtle) interchanges, and certain crazy types (executives, agents) that anyone who's spent 20 minutes in Los Angeles will recognize. But it's all so inside. You imagine that an aspiring filmmaker who's labored in Detroit could probably work the same magic with the auto industry and it would amuse those who are part of the machinery. The rest of us just wouldn't get as much out of it. Guest's everyman protagonist (Kevin Bacon) is a real babe in the woods and his dining-out-with-the-vultures Hollywood escapades often make him appear soft-in-the-head rather than victimized. He could have been a bit more knowing and cynical without spoiling the fable and making us want to wash after watching the film. Ultimately, The Big Picture is a bit roseate because it gives the illusion that, in the end, talent will out. Well, that's a nice fantasy--except that Bacon's dream project appears to be a film no one would really want to see; you can't fault even the most idiotic executive for passing on it. Still, the film has moments, many of them with Martin Short as a completely off-the-wall agent. J.T. Walsh is the other obvious pleasure as a--not to be redundant--dim-bulb studio executive who is clearly more interested in his office decor than his work. And as a performance artist-style filmmaker, Jennifer Jason Leigh is nutty, fetching and believable. What did you think of this movie? Sound off in the Movie Forum. |
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