I Love L.A.

Although the box may have JOHNNY DEPP & VINCENT GALLO in big letters, both actors play minor parts. Some very magical Depp cameo moments. Gallo is amazing and funny as hell the whole time he's on film. Any fan of his will definately want to see this. There's also a main love story that tries desperately to be charming but just ends up boring and lame. (I already know L.A. is fake--I just wanna hear more philosophy from Vincent Gallo.) This movie is supposedly hard to find. Maybe you can get a pirated copy.

I saw this film at the Brussels International Film Festival. The Finnish director, Mika Kaurismäki, participated also in this "special screening". The film is a nice, delightful love story. There's this Scottish boy who falls in love with a girl who comes from Los Angeles. Eventually, the boy follows her to the City of Angels.

Half comedy, half romance. A nice film.

***/*****

As a director, Mika Kaurismäki is definitely not as talented as his brother Aki, the drawer of great films like La vie de bohéme and Drfiting Clouds. L.A. Without a Map has nothing in it, and proves with "Condition Red" and "Last Border" that Mika Kaurismäki has lost his touch of directing. With "L.A." M. Kaurismäki tries to make a some sort of a satire of Hollywood, and connects it to a love story of a british undertaker and a lovely waitress from Hollywood. David Tennant and Vinessa Shaw play the main characters with out any kind of charisma. When Tennant's undertaker wants to be a writer and Shaw's waitress wants to be an actress in any cost, their relationship in Hollywood seems to be an impossible thing to work out.

Vincent Gallo and Julie Delpy make a charming couple in the film, but their chracters are very poorly sketched. Johnny Depp and Jerzy Skolimowski make funny cameos.

L.A. Without a Map won't make you laugh when it's supposed to, trust me. But it's not as bad you might expect, it's not a pathetic picture. Kaurismäki has only made a film that will easily erase from memory. And because of that, you can safely watch it. But that's not much.

LA without a map was for me, the high point of this year's Singapore Film Festival (99). This modern day fairy-tale may come across as 'clich-ed' to some - especially the last bit - but it made a nice and interestingly pure change to the 'my ship is bigger than yours' crazy budget films out there right now. It's a raw and engaging film that puts a certain warmth in your heart when you leave the cinema. It's about love, dreams, loss, the fragility of life (and love) and it can be damn funny when it wants to be... the acting ain't bad either. :) Vinessa Shaw looks set to be the next big thing.

In Bradford, England, the undertaker Richard (David Tennant) meets the American aspirant actress and waiter Barbara (Vinessa Shaw) and they spend some time together. Richard love movies, his great idol is Johnny Depp and he likes to write novels and obituaries. His girlfriend Joy (Saskia Reeves) is the daughter of a wealthy man. Barbara returns to Los Angeles, and Richard decides to look for her, without having her address. He finds her and decides to stay in Los Angeles, becoming friend of Moss (Vincent Gallo) and Julie (Julie Delpy). While working cleaning swimming-pools with Moss, Richard tries to become a writer and has to fight for the love of Barbara against the young and arrogant director Patterson (Cameron Bancroft), who wants only to have sex with her. 'Los Angeles Without a Map' is a lovely and delightful cult-movie, with the participation of many well-known persons. A highly recommended entertainment, having many funny situations. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): 'Absolutamente Los Angeles' ('Absolutely Los Angeles')