Film review:'An Alan Smithee Film'
Whenever Hollywood sends up Hollywood, the result often treads a very fine line between astute, sharp satire and smug, self-serving in-joke.
Landing in the latter category with a pronounced thud is "An Alan Smithee Film -- Burn, Hollywood, Burn," the picture that became a self-fulfilling prophecy when original director Arthur Hiller opted off the credits following serious artistic differences with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas.
Staggeringly unfunny, this one-note home movie may have once been an industry must-read, but the finished product, with its endless references to O.J. and Heidi Fleiss, is anything but fresh or pertinent.
Given a test drive at this week's Mill Valley (Calif.) Film Festival, "Alan Smithee" isn't slated for release until spring, which would give Buena Vista a little time to consider the more merciful option of skipping the theatrics and heading directly to video.
What little plot line there is concerns the dilemma of one Alan Smithee (Eric Idle), a first-time feature filmmaker whose Hollywood future is pinned on "Trio", a megabudget shoot-'em-up adventure starring Sylvester Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg and Jackie Chan.
When studio interference in the persons of smarmy, bombastic producer James Edmonds (Ryan O'Neal) and weasely studio head Jerry Glover (Richard Jeni) forces the Idle character to forfeit his personal vision, he tries to do the honorable thing by having his name taken off the picture. But thanks to that longstanding (since 1969) DGA-sanctioned pseudonym for unclaimed credits, Smithee realizes he's a doomed man.
Instead, he disappears with the film cans and ultimately makes good on his promise to burn the contents, thereby "saving the world from one more bad film." Would that Hiller could have followed suit.
Eszterhas, a prolific writer not previously known for comedy, can at least rest assured that his reputation is intact. Unwavering in its self-amused, sophomoric tone, the picture is shot "Spinal Tap"-style, with its subjects yammering incessantly into the camera.
Performance-wise, the cast is divided into two groups -- those playing themselves or, at least, self-conscious versions of themselves (Stallone, Goldberg, Chan plus Larry King, Dominick Dunne, Robert Shapiro, Shane Black and a somewhat amusing Robert Evans) and those playing characters with winking asides (O'Neal, Jeni and rappers Coolio and Chuck D as the filmmaking Brothers Brothers).
Also joining in the high jinks are Sandra Bernhard as Jeni's wife; Miramax Chief Harvey Weinstein as a detective, looking understandably like a deer caught in headlights; and Eszterhas himself, who proves he can take a joke by generously including putdowns of his own "Showgirls", as well as furnishing the words "screenwriter, penile implant" as his onscreen I.D.
Technically, things are of the on-the-fly, shaky, hand-held variety, while the soundtrack is packed with snippets of selections from unknown bands who apparently took Eszterhas up on his full-page trade ads inviting them to send in their demos for a shot at fame and fortune.
AN Alan Smithee FILM -
BURN, HOLLYWOOD, BURN
Buena Vista
Presented by Hollywood Pictures
in association with Cinergi Prods.
Director Alan Smithee
Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas
Producer Ben Myron
Executive producer Andrew G. Vajna
Director of photography Reynaldo Villalobos
Production designer David L. Snyder
Editor Jim Langlois
Music Gary G-Wiz and Chuck D
Casting Nancy Foy
Color/stereo
Cast:
James Edmonds Ryan O'Neal
Alan Smithee Eric Idle
Jerry Glover Richard Jeni
Dion Brothers Coolio
Leon Brothers Chuck D.
Ann Glover Sandra Bernhard
Running time - 85 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Landing in the latter category with a pronounced thud is "An Alan Smithee Film -- Burn, Hollywood, Burn," the picture that became a self-fulfilling prophecy when original director Arthur Hiller opted off the credits following serious artistic differences with screenwriter Joe Eszterhas.
Staggeringly unfunny, this one-note home movie may have once been an industry must-read, but the finished product, with its endless references to O.J. and Heidi Fleiss, is anything but fresh or pertinent.
Given a test drive at this week's Mill Valley (Calif.) Film Festival, "Alan Smithee" isn't slated for release until spring, which would give Buena Vista a little time to consider the more merciful option of skipping the theatrics and heading directly to video.
What little plot line there is concerns the dilemma of one Alan Smithee (Eric Idle), a first-time feature filmmaker whose Hollywood future is pinned on "Trio", a megabudget shoot-'em-up adventure starring Sylvester Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg and Jackie Chan.
When studio interference in the persons of smarmy, bombastic producer James Edmonds (Ryan O'Neal) and weasely studio head Jerry Glover (Richard Jeni) forces the Idle character to forfeit his personal vision, he tries to do the honorable thing by having his name taken off the picture. But thanks to that longstanding (since 1969) DGA-sanctioned pseudonym for unclaimed credits, Smithee realizes he's a doomed man.
Instead, he disappears with the film cans and ultimately makes good on his promise to burn the contents, thereby "saving the world from one more bad film." Would that Hiller could have followed suit.
Eszterhas, a prolific writer not previously known for comedy, can at least rest assured that his reputation is intact. Unwavering in its self-amused, sophomoric tone, the picture is shot "Spinal Tap"-style, with its subjects yammering incessantly into the camera.
Performance-wise, the cast is divided into two groups -- those playing themselves or, at least, self-conscious versions of themselves (Stallone, Goldberg, Chan plus Larry King, Dominick Dunne, Robert Shapiro, Shane Black and a somewhat amusing Robert Evans) and those playing characters with winking asides (O'Neal, Jeni and rappers Coolio and Chuck D as the filmmaking Brothers Brothers).
Also joining in the high jinks are Sandra Bernhard as Jeni's wife; Miramax Chief Harvey Weinstein as a detective, looking understandably like a deer caught in headlights; and Eszterhas himself, who proves he can take a joke by generously including putdowns of his own "Showgirls", as well as furnishing the words "screenwriter, penile implant" as his onscreen I.D.
Technically, things are of the on-the-fly, shaky, hand-held variety, while the soundtrack is packed with snippets of selections from unknown bands who apparently took Eszterhas up on his full-page trade ads inviting them to send in their demos for a shot at fame and fortune.
AN Alan Smithee FILM -
BURN, HOLLYWOOD, BURN
Buena Vista
Presented by Hollywood Pictures
in association with Cinergi Prods.
Director Alan Smithee
Screenwriter Joe Eszterhas
Producer Ben Myron
Executive producer Andrew G. Vajna
Director of photography Reynaldo Villalobos
Production designer David L. Snyder
Editor Jim Langlois
Music Gary G-Wiz and Chuck D
Casting Nancy Foy
Color/stereo
Cast:
James Edmonds Ryan O'Neal
Alan Smithee Eric Idle
Jerry Glover Richard Jeni
Dion Brothers Coolio
Leon Brothers Chuck D.
Ann Glover Sandra Bernhard
Running time - 85 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/3/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
IMDb.com, Inc. takes no responsibility for the content or accuracy of the above news articles, Tweets, or blog posts. This content is published for the entertainment of our users only. The news articles, Tweets, and blog posts do not represent IMDb's opinions nor can we guarantee that the reporting therein is completely factual. Please visit the source responsible for the item in question to report any concerns you may have regarding content or accuracy.