A not too bad effort at chronicling the life and hard times of barely working character actors in Los Angeles. I never know when I check out one of these low budget indies if I am going to be pleasantly surprised or grievously disappointed, so it's always nicer to be the first.
Some fine character actors on display, including David Straithairn, Amy Madigan, Adam Arkin, Beverly D'Angelo and an uncredited Bill Murray (pre-Lost in Translation). The story is a little light, even for a comedy, and doesn't really hit many strong notes, but it's nice to see something about those actors whose faces are always familiar to us and yet we rarely know their names. There is a particularly nice turn at the end, when each actor auditions for a "dream part" in a Scorcese film (the elusive goal driving the plot), and we suddenly see them as talented professionals, not goofballs and losers. This is very well done and a nice, satisfying end to the film.
If there is a major flaw -- and this is a flaw in a lotta movies -- these marginally successful actors are all depicted as living like Hollywood royalty. Big, stylish houses that would cost upwards of $1 million in So Cal! And yet these actors are clearly described as "out of work", sometimes for over a year. Get real! A real out-of-work character actor is probably living in a one bedroom apartment and lucky if he doesn't have a roommate at that! Still, as someone else wrote, it's nice anymore these days to see a movie about something besides a giant monster, space alien, things blowing up or CGI graphics. So thumbs up!
