The Assistants

This movie is a true hidden gem. I watch it while traveling in Rio because I love Jane Seymour and her portrayal of a Hollywood housewife was hilarious.

The film itself was dominated, as the title and poster suggest, by a twenty-something cast of talented up and comers trying to get ahead in Hollywood. They are trying to do things the right way and are getting absolutely nowhere so they get "creative." They make some good choices and some bad choices and come to find that doing things the honest way while still playing the game is the only way they're willing to move forward and that's when opportunity strikes.

It was really quite funny and heartfelt and if you're a Jane Seymour fan like me, you'll watch it just to see her.

The Assistants is an eye opening look into the wheels and cogs of the movie making business, and a deep dive into the nature of power and success.

It terrified me.

The plot centers around a group of film grads who have the dream of making it big together in Hollywood. Three years later, they are all there, working in Hollywood ...as assistants.

When I sat down to watch the film, I expected a riotous comedy of mishaps and skullduggery, instead I got something much more interesting. The film jumps straight into exploring the idea that those who are at the top are only there because they are being held there, with the true strength of power lying in the arms of those doing the holding. Once the assistants come to this realisation, they begin flexing their muscles and a roller coaster of moral highs and lows begins.

Friendship and creative integrity are pitched against financial success and we watch as the characters grapple to hold one without losing the other. Lines are crossed and true natures are tested. As an audience, we are given plenty of opportunities to ask ourselves, "what would I do"? Thankfully, the film avoids bowing to moral platitudes and delivers a complex story of both cynicism and hope.

A great watch.

I enjoy films about Hollywood, so the subject matter was right in my wheelhouse. I did not expect to enjoy this movie as much as I did. I have purchased it and watched it a few times now as I introduce it to others.

While giving the audience a fun look at Hollywood, this film also puts scruples to the test as you journey with the characters struggling with blurred lines of morality as they just try and achieve their collective goal.

It took me by surprise, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Color me pleasantly surprised by this little independent movie about a group of friends searching for success in Hollywood, while desperately trying to avoid the price of selling out (or selling their souls) that so many other people have paid in order to achieve their dreams in the biz. 

The group (each interested in a different aspect of movie production, including writing, directing, editing, producing, acting, and behind the scenes work), hatch a hair-brained scheme to get a movie in production by using their positions as assistant to various powerful people to manipulate things in their favor. 

The movie ranges from light comedy to some fairly heavy stuff. People with inside knowledge of how Hollywood often works will probably appreciate this more than others. 

The Assistants also doesn't look that cheap, which automatically gives it an advantage over a lot of the bare-bones indies that are being made today. I liked it. It's no masterpiece, but it exceeded my expectations by being a pretty interesting small budget flick.

(2009) The Assistants COMEDY/ DRAMA

"The Assistants" as this film is called refers to a group of 'wannabe film students" who are trying to get their first big break into the film world. Written and directed by Steve Morris, the movie plays in such a pretentious fashion that who knew that it was a supposed to be a comedy. To make a long story short, Gary Greene (Joe Mantegna) is a hot shot producer, who's ordering his assistant, Jack Ryder (Chris Conner) to go through a box of worthless scripts. And although, he's trying to get out of it by making the dreaded 'pick up my father excuse', his job then gets put on the line if he doesn't comply. He does, but instead of him going through them, he dumps this kind of responsibility onto his 'wannabe film assistants', and they in turn devised a plan to concoct a brief synopsis in order for him to find, that is completely made-up, calling it "Journey's End". And then by chance, hot shot producer Gary Greene green lights it, putting Jack and company into a complicated situation. Stacy Keach and Jane Seymour also stars. Because I've read so much about the film industry as well as see so many documentaries about it, this film doesn't offer me anything I don't know myself. And if it's supposed to be a comedy then it's also failed on that aspect as well, since I haven't laughed at a single moment. And the songs chosen for this film is amongst the worst as I've ever heard it.