I Love Your Work

I saw I Love Your Work at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival. The film has a great cast and each one does some solid acting. The plot follows an actor who slowly spirals into madness because he cannot deal with his celebrity status. Ribisi and Pontente are especially good as a Hollywood couple, but the film drags on a bit too long and we never get a good understanding of the main characters and the motivation behind their decisions. Judging by the the discussions I heard at the end of the film, I was not the only person who felt this way. Aside from the acting of the two main stars, I Love Your Work is not that noteworthy.

I saw this film at the 2003 Toronto International Film Festival.

Giovanni Ribisi is a movie star living what I hope is a caricature of a movie star's life (although in Hollywood, there seems to be no such thing as a caricature). He's becoming paranoid, seeing stalkers everywhere and suspecting his movie-star wife of infidelity (with Elvis Costello, no less). Then he meets a fan who seems so normal, and proceeds to screw up this man's life, all the while descending into some sort of madness, and flashing back to a time in his life when he seemed to have normalcy and real love. This film is a bit of a mess, actually. Lots of flashbacks and movie stars portraying movie stars portraying movie stars. It got a bit too "meta" at times, and the narrative was muddled. There was also an ambiguity about the whole fame thing, which is not very new, and frankly, hard for an audience to sympathize with.

I love movies and hate the movie business. So, apparently, does Adam Goldberg. So how come I didn't like this more?

(7/10)

P.S. Before the screening, I saw Giovanni Ribisi walking down the lineup filming the crowd with his camcorder. In addition to Ribisi and director Adam Goldberg, Franka Potente, Christina Ricci, and Shalom Harlow were also at the screening. Of course, after seeing the caustic way in which fans (and stars) are portrayed in the film, it would be just about impossible to say anything to any of them, even if you could get close.

I'll admit that this film has great style, and the director Adam Goldberg is clearly talented - I like his work as an actor, as well- but I LOVE YOUR WORK falls short of what I like in a film. My friends who saw it with me at the festival enjoyed it, some more than others, and it's admittedly dark and complex- but at times I checked out of the story because I just didn't care that much about Giovanni Ribisis character. That's not to say that he doesn't do great work- that's what's hard about this film, it's obvious that everyone is talented and trying really hard, so you almost WANT it to succeed- but I left the theater feeling kind of ho-hum about it. Franke Potente is almost unrecognizable, and does fine work, as does Jared Harris, Judy Greer, and the whole cast.

But the story wasn't very strong or interesting, unless you're a put upon famous actor in Hollywood. The camera-work was lovely, the music was just okay and not very memorable, but overall I was left with the feeling that Adam Goldberg is quite talented but needs a great script to really soar.

It seems people either love or hate this movie.

I think novels, movies, and art do not have to follow an "essay" format. There's no requirement that a hypothesis must be proffered and clearly and logically proved within the movie/book. The goal may be to make people think, to raise questions without giving easy answers, and to do so in a framework that incites both feeling and thought simultaneously.

Hrm, I don't think I'm writing this in a way that really gets my thoughts across, but there you have it.

I enjoyed the movie. It was thought provoking without being highbrow. There was no "moral story" laid out or beaten into you.

I'd recommend this movie for people who like mystery, thought, and don't necessarily require a definite answer/conclusion to enjoy a film. The acting was super, and the movie flowed well.

:) Alma

I was hooked into this movie after watching it for 5 minutes. Goldberg captures the movie- obsessed college kid existence very well (or at least, the whimsical movie-inspired lives that film students aspire to) with respect to Gray's past. Ribisi gives a gripping performance here, he's riveting as the insulated film star with artistic aspirations who slowly looses his grip on reality. What surprised me is Goldberg's talent as a director. He's really really good, got a great visual sense, but the overall structure of this movie reminded me of Mulholland Drive, similar to that movie, I left this one a bit confused. (though less so than MD, and with much more good will). Goldberg sends up the 400 blows, and a Jaques Demy musical, as well as self-conscious arty films, in the film within a film within a hallucination structure. Jason Lee is great & and creepy performance as a stalker. Franka Potente is funny, and it's great seeing her in a bigger role again. Elvis Costello has a hilarious cameo. I'd strongly recommend this, but you may want to see it a couple of times. It's a cool experiment, and I liked all the smoking, decor, and camera product placement.