Never Date an Actress

David Baer's short film Never Date An Actress, running at less than 7 minutes, may not be genius or provocative, but it is certainly good for a laugh. Due to the nature of the picture (it's very short), we have no real plot or character development, but we do follow a caring boyfriend (Scott Coffey) and his shallow, actress girlfriend (Naomi Watts) through half a day in their lives, and in doing so learn why it is one should never date an actress. The film is funny, and luckily it doesn't try to be anything more. Baer actually manages to get more than I expected out of his 6 and half minutes. And it's fantastic to see actors that are not afraid to completely mock themselves: Naomi Watts is delightful as the shallow girlfriend, almost an embodiment of materialism and hypocrisy. Bravo to Baer, Coffey and Watts... in a few minutes they have done what most feature length comedies have failed to do: made me laugh.

A caring boyfriend is out for a day with his girlfriend, an actress. Love is in the air and the pair exchange constant lovey-dovey chat throughout the day. When the actress sees a load of cows she goes all soft over them until she is told that the building next door to their field is an abattoir. Her sobbing and anguish lasts all the way home but it is not long before her newfound enthusiasm for protecting such animals becomes yet another publicity drive for her.

A funny and apparently quite personal film from writer/director Baer who draws on his own experience of dating an actress to produce a snapshot of life with such a person. The final lines of dialogue are quite accurate as it is hard to believe that such a person exists but yet it does have an air of only slightly exaggerated reality about it. The actress of the title is emotionally quite unstable, as if she is "on" and performing at each moment. No matter what outward appearance of selflessness she has, it is never long before she comes round to being all about herself.

Baer's script is good and the closing credits are a nice touch. His script is funny and he does well to get good performances out of the actors and I liked the editing in of snippets of other scenes as a device to give background and depth (or rather lack of it I guess) to the characters. Coffey underplays well and wisely keeps his character straight while letting Watts be the film. Her performance of a self-centre woman is convincing and funny. It is a difficult mix to get right because pushing it too far to make the point could have seen it overplay it or get hammy, but as it is she gets it mostly spot on.

Overall then a personal and funny film that is well put together and is driven by an enjoyable performance from Watts as the actress of the title.

Writer and director draws from his own experience in this funny little film called 'Never Date an Actress'. Although it may appear exaggerated, such people do exist in today's modern society. To them, it's all about world peace, saving animals etc until the time comes to actually do something about it. The actress here is acting out as she's enjoying her lovey dovey moments with her caring boyfriend and she appears to be selfless until the reality of it hits in and she's demanded to make a little sacrifice. This little film is quite well made. The writing, editing and camera-work are solid. The film has a slightly unpolished look, as though we're watching these two people through a hidden camera. Scott Coffey is brilliantly restrained as the caring boyfriend and Naomi Watts is the star. She plays the narcissistic, hypocritical actress with full conviction. Baer's sharply honest and hilarious 'Never Date an Actress' is highly entertaining and a fun watch.