18 January 2009. This prolonged glimpse into the slices of experiences of this ordinary looking woman who leads a meaningless life as the daughter of a supposedly famous actress mother (a mother who seems mostly out of the picture of her daughter's life except by telephone) contains some interesting and compelling scenes. However, overall, it meanders in a way that seems boringly, uninteresting. Our star goes from one brief encounter with a male to another, from one audition to another, from one therapy session to another without really having any substantive encounters. The most fascinating scenes are the reactions of others to our female protagonist, especially the directors looking to cast their productions and the friends that surround her, particularly a mentally ill man. There is a riveting hotel scene that feels visceral and intensely compelling, except unfortunately the entire premise of the argument that led to the amazingly acted outbursts felt unreasonable and false to begin with. Our lead character also doesn't seem to even realize how she did in her auditions, seemingly at odds with the audiences own impressions. Perhaps, the movie is about a woman who really doesn't connect because she doesn't connect with herself, and therefore can't really connect with the audience. No matter how interesting the camera work, gorgeous the color photography and music, this movie can't overcome the senselessness of it all. In the end, this is a series of experimental scenes based on improv dialogue which to its credit is among the best element of the movie, an attempt at providing the audience with some performed experiences based on ideas that were thought to be of some value to the audience, perhaps maybe to those who have lived the actors' life, but little else for others who haven't been there. Screened at Sundance Film Festival.
