Ellie
Parker generated substantial buzz during the earlier part of the Sundance this
year, so I was quite curious to see what actor turned director Scott Coffey had
up his sleeve. As it turns out, not a whole hell of a lot. Don’t get me wrong.
Ellie Parker isn’t worthless, but there have been countless send-ups about
the perils of the film world, that were far more effective.
Ellie
Parker is actually based on a short that Coffey brought to the festival a few
years earlier and features Naomi Watts as working actress Ellie Parker, a talented
young woman waiting for her big break. When she isn’t out busting her ass
trying to impress casting directors, she’s busy dealing with a dysfunctional
relationship with her burn-out musician of a boyfriend, and spending time with
her best friend, who also happens to be an actress.
Ellie
Parker is a satiric look at the independent film making world (which is more or
less a smaller-scale mirror reflection of the Hollywood system). It was shot on
video, and for the most part, is shot hand-held. It reportedly took five years
to finish the film. Why, I really couldn’t say.
Naomi
Watts actually started this film before she became as celebrated as she is today
and I get the distinct impression that she would’ve turned it down had she
been asked to do it more recently. But then I suppose that’s the attraction
of the film. Her performance is lively, and in particular, I loved the sequences
in which she’s cruising down the street in her car in between screen tests,
rehearsing dialogue for her next audition. There are plenty of scenes where this
gorgeous actress wildly overplays things, but it’s all intentional. Quite
frankly, had Watts not appeared in the film, I don’t think there would be
much to recommend.
Chevy
Chase shows up in a brief (and when I say brief, I do mean brief) supporting role
as Ellie’s philandering agent. His turn is fine I suppose, but there really
isn’t much to it. It’s as if he just showed up because he was excited
at the notion of being asked to be in a project again.
As
I stated, this is satire but even so, it’s incredibly dull. I love movies
like The Player and The Big Picture, but Ellie Parker can’t hold a candle
to those films because it isn’t scathing enough. Coffey’s targets are
much too easy. There are moments I certainly liked including a very funny sequence
in which Ellie and her performing buddy argue over the fundamentals of method
acting (Lawrence Olivier would have gotten a kick out of this), which culminates
in a crying contest. But for every solid moment, there’s about five or six
that don’t work at all. Take, for instance, a pivotal scene in which Ellie
tries out for a period piece. The entire time she’s doing her monologue,
the strange, foreign film team conducting the interview are more interested in
acting weird than paying attention to Parker’s work. I get what Coffey is
going for here, but it comes off a lot more tedious than funny.
I
wasn’t at all bothered by this film’s low-budget look. Hell, I’m
a huge fan of The Blair Witch Project (let the trashing begin). The hand held
video camera style is just fine. The problem is that there just isn’t anything
particularly interesting going on. At nearly two hours long, Ellie Parker is far
too lengthy and the pace nearly put me to sleep. There just isn’t enough
to Ellie Parker to sustain such a long running time. Perhaps this picture was
better suited as a short.
Following
the picture, Scott Coffey and his cast did a Q & A. No one dared asked Watts
any questions about he upcoming King Kong remake probably for fear that some smug
independent guru in the audience might chastise them. Watts looked every bit as
good in person, and as I’ve already made clear in the review, had it not
been for her, the movie would have been dead in the water. Chevy Chase was also
there to trumpet his masterful four minutes of screen time. Speaking of smug.
No one asked Chase a question, so at one point during the Q & A, he made it
known that he was in the movie too. Finally, someone worked up the courage to
ask Chase a question. Chase’s reply was longer than his appearance in the
film. I suppose the SNL vet was trying to be funny, but I thought he came across
as smarmy. Scott Coffey is likable enough. The guy certainly doesn’t appear
to have much of an ego, and he showered much deserved praise on Watts. Still,
I think I prefer watching him as an actor (he appeared in several 80's movies
including Some Kind of Wonderful). And in fact, his supporting role in Ellie Parker
is stronger than his role as director. This is definitely the most disappointing
movie I’ve seen at the festival so far.
