Sedotti e abbandonati

SEDUCED AND ABANDONED begins with a fascinating premise, as actor Alec Baldwin and filmmaker James Toback try to raise funds for their proposed new movie, tentatively entitled "Last Tango in Tikrit." This documentary charts their efforts to schmooze a variety of investors from various countries into giving them the $15m. necessary to finance the movie. Some of the situations are extremely funny, especially when Toback tries his level best to convince the investors of the viability of his proposal, even if it means agreeing to any and every suggestion the investors propose. However the film's principal subject-matter gets lost, as many of the movie people interviewed (including actors Ryan Gosling and Jessica Chastain, directors Martin Scorsese and Francis Ford Coppola) discuss various topics, including their origins, the arts of acting and directing, and their views of filmmaking as a whole. As a result the narrative tends to sag in places, despite numerous reminders - in the form of visuals - that the film business comprises 95% hustling and 5% filmmaking. On the plus side, both Baldwin and Toback come across as basically likable and sincere, the kind of artists that should be encouraged in their future endeavors.

I gave it this rating simply because of Toback. He is a known gambling addict. Why would anyone give this man a penny? He's also a drug addict and recently chose to bash Robert Downey Jr. for getting himself straight and for having a strong marriage. The man is sleazy and it's truly amazing that any quality people would have much to do with him. He's had no 'hits' in what? 22 years?

This man is not able to truly direct anything. He's just looking for a party and money for his latest gamble, and those who hang with him are tarnishing their own image, IMHO.

The entire premise of this film is sketchy at least. They truly conned all of the actresses and actors involved in this thing.

In this HBO Documentary film, filmmaker James Toback (The Gambler, Bugsy, Tyson) and actor Alec Baldwin trek to the Cannes Film Festival, in May of 2012, to try and raise money for their proposed movie. Although, this film may be more geared to film buffs, a moniker I can unabashedly admit to, I thought it offered lots and lots of wit and humor, as well as wonderful insider stories from those in the movie industry.

They meet with distributors, billionaires, heads of movie studios, and film stars such as Ryan Gosling, Jessica Chastain, Berenice Bejo, Diane Kruger, and James Caan. They also talk to some of the real greats in filmmaking, such as Coppola, Polanski, Scorcese, and Bertolucci. I thought almost all these meetings and interviews were remarkably candid and enjoyable.

I might mention one story told by Francis Ford Coppola. After winning 6 Oscars from the "Godfather" movies, he couldn't get financing for his next movie, so in frustration he threw his Oscars out the window and they smashed into smithereens. However, his mother came along, picked up the shattered pieces and took them to the Academy to get replacements, telling them the maid accidentally broke them.

We get to see how the movie industry has changed over the past decades, and it can be quite the sad portrait. Now, it seems unless you're trying to finance a high budget franchise film, your chances of receiving funding for a mid-range movie, even with known stars, is extremely difficult. A lot of the distributors and investors admit that they don't even care about the quality of the script, just in the profit projections from their money people.

Just to mention as the interviews are progressing, photos or film clips of the subjects or persons they're discussing appear briefly on a split screen. My biggest objection to this style was that the clips were not left on screen long enough so I had to use my pause button quite a bit. Also, there are some scenes where strong sexual connotations or language are explicitly used, for those sensitive to that.

All in all, as mentioned this documentary may appeal mostly to film aficionados, I found it quite humorous and interesting from start to finish.

Review: As a fan of movies, I was expecting quite a lot from this documentary because I thought that I was going to get a deep insight into getting a budget for a movie, but I found it quite boring and uninteresting after a while. Watching people with big egos, talking about the value of people in the movie business, really did make me come to terms with how cut throat the business is. Alec Baldwin made the movie for me and I enjoyed the interviews with Ryan Gosling, who has a unique personality, and Martin Scorsese who can talk forever about his personal experiences. In all, the documentary was just based at the Cannes Film Festival so I shouldn't make a judgement on all movie tycoons, but it was interesting to watch a big star like Alec Baldwin, struggling to get a big budget just because he isn't as big as Ryan Gosling. Watchable!

Round-Up: I don't really watch movies from other countries so I didn't know quite a few of the directors in this film, but it was still interesting to hear another point of view about the world of making movies. Your name really needs to carry some weight for the producers to take you seriously, which is a shame for the people who want to make it in the business. I enjoyed watching Alec Baldwin work his charms with the various producers and movie moguls but after watching it for an hour and a half, it just seems like one big conversation without seeing any outcome. I think the film would have been much better if it was about a film that had already hit the cinemas.

I recommend this film to people who are into there documentaries about 2 people trying to get a budget for a movie. 4/10

The good: this reportage is (only) kinda interesting when famous directors like Bertolucci, Scorsese and Coppola are being interviewed.

The bad: unfortunately the famous folks only get very short screentime and this reportage unfortunately is mostly about Alec Baldwin quacking about how to get money for a new film he wants to make. THAT was NOT interesting any more after having watched it over 15 minutes.

This reportage (not a documentary) should have (at least) been cut in half and it should have deleted many (MANY) scenes with Alec Baldwin in it talking about getting money for his new movie, because it is quite tedious to watch.