Film review: 'Shooting Lily'
When his wife pops out of his life, a professional videographer confronts his own obnoxious and ironically distancing practice of recording important moments from their marriage in the initially amusing but ultimately tiresome "Shooting Lily".
The top prize winner at the 1997 South by Southwest Film Festival, Arthur Borman's film recently premiered in the L.A. area in the American Cinematheque's Alternative Screen series at Raleigh Studios. It's helped by the lead performance by Amy Smallman as the beleaguered wife, but one develops little sympathy for her clueless mate, played with manic nerdiness by Matt Winston.
A few years ago, Borman made a minor masterpiece, the mock documentary "... And God Spoke," but "Shooting Lily" does not show the same inventiveness and sparkling wit. Still, as a character study of an intrusive twit and his likable victim, there are truthful moments that keep one's attention, and the filmmaking is accomplished for such a low-budget project.
In the opening sequence during a New Year's Eve party, David (Winston) behind the video camera tries to egg on Lily (Smallman) to perform aerobics for the guests, but she's not having any of it. Immediately apparent is David's badgering personality that after years has made Lily's life with him unbearable.
She breaks up with him, asks for a divorce and walks out the door, but he keeps the camera running as he embarrasses himself and their friends by breaking down. Her parting words are "watch the videotapes," and for David this is hardly an ornerous task.
With a group of largely unhelpful friends trying to help him battle depression, David starts replaying years of tapes that show Lily's gradual disenchantment and outright anger at David's irresponsible yet controlling nature. He's a jerk, all right, and unfortunately the movie traps the viewer as much as bright, fun-loving Lily.
Dominated by the video footage of relatively happy trips to France and Mexico, along with seriously mangled memories of an aborted house-buying excursion, the film makes its case early on and then goes nowhere except further into the obsessive head of David, who ends up stalking Lily and continually making all the wrong moves. A guardedly optimistic conclusion and David's redemption are hardly the cure for enduring such media-age misery.
SHOOTING LILY
A Goliath/Windrock production
In association
with Soundelux Entertainment Group
A film by Arthur Borman
Writer-director Arthur Borman
Producers David Baxter, Richard Raddon
Exec producers Lon Bender, Wylie Stateman
Director of photography Mark Parry
Production designer Jamie Foley
Editor Danny Canovas
Music John Massari
Casting Maryclair Sweeters
Color/stereo
Cast:
David Matt Winston
Lily Amy Smallman
Running time -- 85 minutes
No MPAA rating...
The top prize winner at the 1997 South by Southwest Film Festival, Arthur Borman's film recently premiered in the L.A. area in the American Cinematheque's Alternative Screen series at Raleigh Studios. It's helped by the lead performance by Amy Smallman as the beleaguered wife, but one develops little sympathy for her clueless mate, played with manic nerdiness by Matt Winston.
A few years ago, Borman made a minor masterpiece, the mock documentary "... And God Spoke," but "Shooting Lily" does not show the same inventiveness and sparkling wit. Still, as a character study of an intrusive twit and his likable victim, there are truthful moments that keep one's attention, and the filmmaking is accomplished for such a low-budget project.
In the opening sequence during a New Year's Eve party, David (Winston) behind the video camera tries to egg on Lily (Smallman) to perform aerobics for the guests, but she's not having any of it. Immediately apparent is David's badgering personality that after years has made Lily's life with him unbearable.
She breaks up with him, asks for a divorce and walks out the door, but he keeps the camera running as he embarrasses himself and their friends by breaking down. Her parting words are "watch the videotapes," and for David this is hardly an ornerous task.
With a group of largely unhelpful friends trying to help him battle depression, David starts replaying years of tapes that show Lily's gradual disenchantment and outright anger at David's irresponsible yet controlling nature. He's a jerk, all right, and unfortunately the movie traps the viewer as much as bright, fun-loving Lily.
Dominated by the video footage of relatively happy trips to France and Mexico, along with seriously mangled memories of an aborted house-buying excursion, the film makes its case early on and then goes nowhere except further into the obsessive head of David, who ends up stalking Lily and continually making all the wrong moves. A guardedly optimistic conclusion and David's redemption are hardly the cure for enduring such media-age misery.
SHOOTING LILY
A Goliath/Windrock production
In association
with Soundelux Entertainment Group
A film by Arthur Borman
Writer-director Arthur Borman
Producers David Baxter, Richard Raddon
Exec producers Lon Bender, Wylie Stateman
Director of photography Mark Parry
Production designer Jamie Foley
Editor Danny Canovas
Music John Massari
Casting Maryclair Sweeters
Color/stereo
Cast:
David Matt Winston
Lily Amy Smallman
Running time -- 85 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 6/19/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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