THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 25, 1995 TAG: 9509230037
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E5 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Movie Review
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT MOVIE CRITIC
LENGTH: Medium: 69 lines
SO YOU THOUGHT you wanted to be in the movies.
After you see ``Living in Oblivion,'' you'll think again - that is if you can stop laughing long enough to think. This is a low-budget comedy about the making of a low-budget movie in which everything goes wrong.
It's directed by Tom DiCillo, who attended Old Dominion University before going on to photograph Jim Jarmusch's ``Stranger Than Paradise.'' He directed the cult camp-delight ``Johnny Suede,'' starring Brad Pitt. He's scored a major, mainstream hit with ``Living in Oblivion,'' winning several festival awards.
The film-within-the-film is also called ``Living In Oblivion.'' As it opens, it is 4 in the morning and the harried director (Steve Buscemi) is dreaming of a scene in which his leading lady Nicole (Catherine Keener) has a dramatic scene with an older actress. The microphone boom gets in the way for one take. The actors fluff the line for another.
Mechanical problems are the least of the director's troubles. His leading man, a blond would-be hunk named Chad, bedded the leading lady last night and now wants to steal her close-ups. Now, he's eyeing the script girl as a possible new conquest.
Chad, as played by James Le Gros, is a send-up of Brad Pitt (even though Pitt himself denies it, claiming that he actually wanted to play the role but couldn't because of other commitments).
His leading lady, played by Catherine Keener, has had one moment of fame before now (a shower scene in a Richard Gere movie). Insecure in the extreme, she promises that she's giving up acting if she ever gets through this. When she overhears Chad and the director criticizing her acting skills, she breaks.
Buscemi has evolved into one of our most recognizable character actors, popping up everywhere from ``Reservoir Dogs'' to the current ``Desperado.'' Here, he has his most sympathetic role - amply illustrating how the director has to be the father-confessor of everyone on the set.
``Living in Oblivion,'' though, never whines or complains as it chronicles the difficulties of getting a low-budget film made. It merely tells it like it is, which is funny enough.
Not since Truffaut's ``Day for Night'' has a film so believably suggested life on a film set. Some of the camp humor of ``Ed Wood'' is also here, with its desperate search for respectability.
Even if you're not interested in making movies, a comedy of errors always works. This one chronicles all the errors with a valid dose of comic disillusionment. ILLUSTRATION: SONY PICTURES
James Le Gros, left, and Steve Buscemi star in ``Living in
Oblivion,'' which is about the making of a low-budget film.
MOVIE REVIEW
``Living In Oblivion''
Cast: Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, James Le
Gros
Director and Writer: Tom DiCillo
Music: Jim Farmer
MPAA rating: R (some language)
Mal's rating: three and 1/2 stars
Location: Naro Theater in Norfolk
by CNB