Cannes Man

The film takes place at the famous Cannes film festival. It's about a producer who, as a bet, tries to hype up a nobody, and make everyone believe he's the greatest writer since Hemmingway. This writer's non-existent story is appropriately called 'Cannes Man', but pronounced 'Con Man'. Lots of cameo appearances by some big names, and pretty funny performance by Johnny Depp. An enjoyable little spoof of the movie industry!

Call it a parody or a mockumentary. It reminds me a lot of Trading Places. Two old farts: Sy Lerner (Seymour Cassell) and his buddy (Jim Stark) bet that Sy can't make a star out of anybody. Frank (Francesco Quinn) just delivered some goods to Lloyd Kaufman and was just roaming around when the friend picked him for Sy to develop. All Frank had to do was smile and look good, an Sy did all the work.

The action takes place at Cannes, so there are stars and producers and directors aplenty around, and Sy is conning them all. The nice thing is that it is Cannes and there is plenty to see other than stars. There are legs all over the place.

The bet is over on the last day of Cannes, and Frank doesn't get it. He was just a pawn. he's a loser.

O, well, It is another movie on the way to seeing all of Johnny Deps, and there is a nice pair in the middle.

I've been to Cannes, and this is EXACTLY what it's like to be there. Not to mention that Johnny Depp and Jim Jarmusch do one of the most hilarious cameos I've ever seen. Seymour Cassel has never been funnier, and this film captures the indie icon like he's never been captured before. I saw this film at a screening in LA not long ago, and wonder why it didn't make it to the theaters. Look for Ann Cusack as a buyer who gets ripped off by Sy Lerner (Cassell) and Robert Evans telling a story about his glory days.

This is an oddball film that Jaime and I watched for our podcast, Depp Dive: A Depper Look into Johnny's Feature Filmography. In hindsight, this isn't a great one to watch when exploring the films of Johnny Depp, since he's only a cameo here. I'll be honest though; this is a mockumentary that sucked me in. Jaime wasn't as big a fan, but since the movie and the industry behind it fascinates me, this was wild.

The plot here is that Sy Lerner (Seymour Cassel) has passed away. We are at his funeral, which is mostly attended by his former secretaries, his widow of Rebecca (Rebecca Broussard) and Frank 'Rhino' Rhinoslavsky (Francesco Quinn). This man goes into telling the wild tale of how Sy won a bet at Cannes film festival by making him the talk of it and pitching people on a movie that he made up on the spot.

One of the best parts is the fact that Frank Rhino goes to Cannes as a courier. I love the fact that he's bringing promotional material to Lloyd Kaufman (as himself) for a movie he brought there. He helps but doesn't have a place to stay and discovers everything is book. Sy makes a bet with Jim Stark (as himself) and things go wild from there as they sucker in the likes of John Malkovich, Dennis Hopper, Peter Gallagher, Frank Whaley, Lara Flynn Boyle, Depp and Jim Jarmusch, all playing themselves.

I should then shift here that I love what they did by going to Cannes, finding these people and then getting them to have cameos as fictionalized versions of themselves. Adding to that, none of them trust Sy and that adds to hilarity. There are more that I didn't include like Chris Penn who tries to avoid Sy. He makes comments about these this producer did. There's charm in the acting here that doesn't need it to be great, but it is still fun.

I'll then finish out with filmmaking. There is an intimate feel that you'd get with a documentary. It looks like it was filmed with more handheld cameras. I'd go as far to say that many of the shots probably weren't planned. It feels like someone just doing a home video at Cannes and this is what we got. For me, that adds realism and I could see the characters being who they are. Not one I can recommend to everyone, but if you like more behind the scenes ideas and how it seems deals like this get made, check this out.

My Rating: 7 out of 10.

Cannes Man is one of the funniest movies I have ever seen, as it pokes fun as the self-indulgent Hollywod movie industry, exposing how full of crap some of the industry people are, and that includes more than just promoters and producers, but actors and directors as well.

Filmed entirely at the Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, is something of a story that models the success of Chauncy, of that old Peter Sellers classic, 'Being There.' Frank Rhinoslavasky (Francesco Quinn), kind of a dumb guy, and part-time New York cab driver, wants to break into the movie business. He doesn't have anything to offer, and just thinks that he can start at the top, as a writer. Opportunity knocks on Frank's door when he goes to the Cannes Film Festival to deliver some props to Troma, Inc.

There, Frank meets Sy Lerner (Seymor Cassell), perhaps the biggest bullshitter in the business, and as each person interviewed in this mockumentary, he has made a fool out of a lot of industry executives and cost them plenty of money. Sy Lerner makes a bet with his friend that he can take any shmoe off the street and turn them into the biggest success around. And Frank is his shmoe. Like Chauncy, Peter Seller's dimwitted character in Being There who was haled as a genius by those who only saw what they wanted to see in Chauncy (and the kicker is that they eventually nominate him President), Frank Rhino is going to create the same success by letting others do all the work.

Sy Lerner takes on Frank as his pet project. He shows Frank how to dress and behave (though Frank doesn't drop much of his idiotic conversation habits), tells him how to respond when being interviewed such as never saying too much, and always being ambiguous. Then Lerner comes up with the vehicle for Frank's reputation, by naming him the writer of a new movie. Only the movie doesn't exist and Frank isn't a writer. And, even knowing Lerner's reputation, people buy into the garbage. And now, everyone wants a piece of that action. Lerner and Frank (now given a fitting industry name of "Frank Rhino") have everyone knocking down their door, hot directors, big name producers, and big shot actors (including some great scenes with Johnny Depp and Jim Jarmusch. Interviews, press opportunities, everything, Frank is the "Cannes Man," and he didn't have to do much to get it.

Even funnier than the fact that everyone is falling for all the garbage Lerner and Rhino hand them, is the intermittent interviews with members of the industry who initially started talking about how Lerner suckered them out of money and then gradually change their tune about wanting a piece of the new hot action, Frank Rhino and his movie. They went full circle.

I imagine the filmmakers went around Cannes and just asked people to take part in it, improvising most of it like Frank Whaley, Peter Gallagher, and Laura Flynn Boyle most obviously do (promoting Cafe Society), trying to sound very important, but only coming off as total idiots and suckers for just another one of Lerner's money-making schemes. There are many other cameos by John Malchovich, Jon Cryer (promoting 'Heads'), and Del Toro and Kevin Pollack (promoting the 'Usual Suspects'), and so forth. And everyone is outrageously funny. This is definitely one of the funniest movies I have ever seen, and one that I highly recommend.

Lerner definitely makes a fool out of Hollywood, and I wonder if this isn't how the real industry operates 80 percent of the time.