The Chemists

I understand that this film was the director's thesis project for film school. I hope he received an A. Clearly the film is shot on a shoestring budget, but the script is quite clever and the performances are fine. The premise is clever and original. A struggling actor has a chance at a lead in a major motion picture if he can convince the filmmaker that there is chemistry between him and his leading lady costar. Without revealing anything about the story, the script has a clever David Mamet type plot twist. I found myself caring about the characters and quite engaged in the story. Admittedly, there are some plot elements that are extremely unbelievable -- one of them having to do with the "famous" obnoxious and dislikable actor who is also competing for the role. I would call this film a great start and if the filmmaker could sell it and get this remade as a major production, I think it could be a strong feature film.

Nice take on how so many directors and studios abuse their casts flagrantly, a trick that's been used forever; possibly the worst example remains the way MGM forced Jean Harlow's life onto the big screen in some appalling emotional scenes, over multiple films starring Jean Harlow as herself. Directors like John Ford, Preminger, Wyler had terrible reputations for the way they handled their actors.

Here, reality merges with acting until neither of our characters is certain which is which, leading to situations that approach the skyscraper ledge for them mentally. Quite a few actors have tipped over that ledge, old and new.... sometimes even roles themselves can acquire a sort of dangerous reputation (Lady MacBeth).

This film could easily get a big budget with big stars signed to perform the roles, but there are not too many contemporary actors or actresses that would surpass our leads, both of whom are uniformly great in each scene. Very fine performances.