My Life with Morrissey

I can't say that I was completely blown away or really impressed by My Life with Morrissey, but there is a definite grungy kind of comic appeal to it. It's too ridiculous and, towards the end, really nuts to be taken too seriously, which is part of the fun and the dilemma in watching it. The dilemma for me, as someone who's heard bits of the Smiths and Morrissey, is how much or how little can I buy into this one woman's obsession with this very English-handsome singer? Is Morrissey enough to fawn over like some kind of golden cattle God? Apparently, in the anything goes life of the character of Jackie, it would appear so. She works a day job as a file clerk, but her minds always on her potential future love-of-her-life, who sometimes is in a puppy-love state for her, and other times reaching to masturbatory levels. A whole environment of hysteria starts to come in around her, as her co-workers can't take her anymore, and even out in the open world she's circumspect.

For Morrissey fans themselves, it will be hit or miss, and for fans of just plain goofy comedy it might be something more. I myself have noticed it to be a minor cult hit at the college I attended, where the indie-movie side almost had a kinship with indie rockers. While Morrissey and his previous Smiths might be a little more than just 'indie' types, it's appropriate that this story is not in a higher budgeted or released film. The writer/director/cinematographer Andrew Overtoom, likely taking cues from his previous work on Spongebob Squarepants, isn't aiming high at all in the quality of how he shoots, or even how he directs actors. The same weird charm and glow (as well as the danger) in Jackie Buscarino's first film can also veer on being irritating, especially as the film starts to draw to its conclusion. Many individual bits in the office are quite funny, with chuckles throughout, but it's a shame that it never totally comes together to be very memorable. It's watchable and fun enough on a first go if you can find it on DVD, but it may depend on your sense of humor (or connection with Morrissey himself, the buzz around him) if it comes off or is simply annoying.

i had just recently sent an e-mail to Andrew Overtoom saying:

may i just commend you on a WONDERFUL film? i LOVED it. i was visiting NY (seeing Little Shop of Horrors on broadway...great production, by the way) on monday, and thought i'd stop in the virgin megastore. i saw the film and bought it on a whim, thinking "hey, i like Morrissey and the Smiths. why not?"... all i can say is WOW, i love it. it's utterly hilarious in the utmost darkest psyche, almost a direct mockery of harsh reality. however! consequently, i've now developed a total geek fanboy crush on Jackie Buscarino. will she be starring in any other films? do you plan on putting together any other films? i'd be quite interested to know.

a new fan, -brent saner

and! he was kind enough to take some time and write back, and was utmost kind about it, saying:

Hi Brent,

Thanks for your email, aI always love to hear from people who "get" the film, and it sounds like you really got it. And oh yeah, that Jackie! I think everyone has a crush on her! She is quite the tart!

I do have a film I just finished writing that will be going into pre-production in the spring. There is a good chance Jackie will be involved with that one, but we'll have to see how big a star she becomes in the meantime -- she might be booked up years in advance by then!

I encourage you to drop by imdb.com and/or amazon.com and leave a short review if you liked the film. It helps us a lot as we are always under constant attack by the "morrissey nazis" there.

Well, thanks again Brent. Let me know if you have any luck with Jackie!

Best Regards, Andrew

now, having read that, i want all the "morrissey nazis" to know that this film is, in NO way, guaranteed to be about morrissey himself or include music by him. welcome to the real world! just relax and enjoy the film for what it is- a delve into the sickness of the human condition, and'or what can go wrong with an admiration when it goes too far.

and having a bit of dark comedy in the process.

the focus of the film is human nature, and jackie, and the way she interacts with people around her...not morrissey.

'nuff said!

-brent

(and before you read this know that my spelling is crappy but i cant help that) This is a very good movie i love the lead character Jackie B she plays an obsessive crazy bitch that loves Moz. She drives around drunkenly trying to find him and has some very funny encounters. She goes to a record store where he once was, and gets growled at, told to give some guy a blow-job and also licks a Morrissey CD. She also goes to a restaurant that he was at and finds a tofu dog that she smells licks and eats then hops away with. then moz comes up to her and asks if she is OK she starts chocking on her dog and pukes it all up. moz then give her a ride home and she then thinks she will marry him. she tells her friend that they had sex and that it was great. she goes totally crazy and wears a wedding dress to work and stuff it full of bagel's because those don't give her the doodle dandees. she gets run over by a bike and then lives in a BOX where she drinks milk out of a bole. the cops come and get her and her and her BOX are put on the back of the cops motorcycle and then she covers the cops eyes and they fall of a Cliff. she is then put in a loony bin but that doesn't stop her from loving MORRISSEY.

This is the kind of movie you are either going to totally love or totally hate.

It's beyond low budget. It's a crazy, stupid, ridiculous, demented mess of a movie that's just so fun to watch. It's the best kind of amateur effort that there is. 999 out of 1,000 times someone sets out to make a movie like this, it dies at some point during the process. That's why this movie is so important. By all rights this should never have existed, but for the few of you who like this sort of thing, there is no substitute.

It's hard to think of another movie this even compares to. I could see this appealing (in some ways) to (some) fans of things like Trailer Park Boys, The Foot-Fist Way, Freddy Got Fingered, Schizopolis, It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, Mallrats, The Lost Skeleton of Cadavra - stuff like that.

If you're the kind of person who loves low-budget DIY cinema AND dementedly stupid comedy YOU NEED TO SEE THIS for yourself.

Morrissey and anything to do with Morrissey is highly irrelevant here for the most part, so be not afraid. It's more to do about a crazy obsessive person's demented interactions with her co-workers and the world at large, played for big stupid laughs, to the point of absurdity. The object of her obsession could have been almost anyone or anything else - just that Morrissey tends to elicit this kind of crazy obsessiveness more than most.

It's a shame that more people who would absolutely love this movie and laugh their asses off don't get a chance to be exposed to it.

What were they thinking?!? What is such a surprise is that the movie really has nothing to do with Morrissey, past the main character's posters and dolls of the singer. You could have replaced any celebrity for Morrissey and it wouldn't have changed the movie. I mean, what a waste. Morrissey is perhaps the biggest cult figure in music today. Overtoom could have approached this in so many funny ways, both for the fan and Mozz-haters. All the Mozz stereotypes of big hair, mopey demeanors and clove cigarettes. Instead, this movie feels like a bad version of office space, mixed with Kevin Smith at his absolute worst. Thank God Morrissey had the sense to stay clear of this mess.