Meeting Spencer

Never knew Jeffrey Tambor was THAT good an actor. But the supporting actors are just perfectly cast, so there's not a single wrong note anywhere in the film. Tambor really shines in this movie. It's like a British farce, but slowed down for American audiences, it seems to me. I can just imagine what this would have been like if Howard Hawks had directed it. ("His Girl Friday" anybody?). It's got that kind of witty dialog you might remember from Woody Allen's "Bullets Over Broadway," but they didn't have Woody's budget (especially for music, though the music in this movie is perfectly good).

This is all done in a cozy Broadway restaurant in real time, so it has elements of a play to it. All Broadway types are represented in a clever way. The sassy Broadway agent (what was her name, Nina Diamond?), the ex-girlfriend actress, the coat check girl with high hopes, the Hollywood producer that Broadway types love to hate, the prima donna aging British actor, the dumb blonde girlfriend, the aspiring wannabes, the phony Broadway investors and then Spencer himself, the struggling actor who walks into the restaurant as a nobody and walks out as a star.

"Meeting Spencer" is a great send-up of Broadway types and has a timeless quality that will make it watchable for years to come. Anybody thought of a sequel? As soon as they get to the theatre (with that cow!), I was wondering what would happen AFTER all this.

Meeting Spencer is a hilarious comedy that entertains all movie and theatre goers alike. Set in NYC at Frankie & Johnnies Steakhouse, we walk into the restaurant ready to "seal the deal" on the next Broadway "hit" and exit with a comical change of direction for our theatre production on turn of the century coal miners. At every stage of our evening out at this NYC landmark, whether at the bar or prancing about the restaurant, writers Andrew Kole, Andrew Delaplaine, and Scott Kasdin placed great wit at every spot providing a well-paced film. Director Malcolm Mowbray navigated the audience through each scene masterfully over each careful string of the deal-web without losing even the most novice movie or theatre goer. Jeffrey Tambor is stellar as the theatre director and ringleader for the theatre troupe with his ravishing and impeccable Melinda McGraw. Spencer, our up and coming actor, played by Jesse Plemons, helps us all identify with the novice who is looking to learn the ropes; Plemons certainly manages to climb the ropes fast with assistance of the reporter, played by the voluptuous Jill Marie Jones, and equally enticing actor Mark Harelik, who gives Spencer his confidence to move on. Superlative performances from all others! Whether we follow the sexual innuendos or the interactions between the young and old, the audience is continuously taken on a roller coaster of the "deal"—casting and recasting the leads, enlisting investors, signing on agents, and setting up Hollywood film makers. Meeting Spencer is a crafted film sure to amuse every viewer. Producer and attorney George Braunstein and director Malcolm Mowbray gave us a film with a sensational troupe of actors who are sure to make you double over in your seat!

Valerie Lapena and Gustavo Lamanna

The pseudo-sophisticates behind "Meeting Spencer" may think they have written and produced a clever insider's look at the "real" world of show business. Instead, it is an appalling hash of a movie that one watches in disbelief, assuming that it must somehow have a point. It does not. This film would get a B- as a film school project. As a commercially-released film, it is laughable. Which is NOT to suggest that it is, for one moment, actually funny. The stilted dialogue is at least partly saved by the incredibly poor sound quality, which prevents most of the actors from being heard. This is, I think, meant to be a satire on the pretensions of the world of "the theatah." Instead it is a savage indictment of the world of indie film making, and even though the budget was clearly minimal, one can't imagine who might have actually put up whatever was spent to make this embarrassment.

It was great to see Jeffrey Tambor carry a movie like this. He shows himself as a great talent, leading an ensemble. The material is a little complex because of being about the inside workings of show business, but it moves and it's funny & smart. It was particularity good seeing old Morgan Shepard as the cranky veteran Broadway star. Also I particularly liked seeing Yvonne Zima as the young and beautiful coat-check girl; I've been a fan of her older sister Madeline for some time. If fact all the women are wonderfully appealing and playful.

"Meeting Spencer" is my kind of movie because it reminds me of the great movies about Broadway and Hollywood like "The Producers" and "All About Eve." It was fluke that I ended up at a preview screening, so I'd keep an extra eye out for this movie.

I enjoyed the ride more than the destination. Just as the stakes raised, the credits rolled. The movie's first half was a little slow but I still liked it overall. The character interplay held my interest and Jeffrey Tambor was good, as usual. I'm a sucker for NYC films. So if anyone can recommend more NYC movies similar to this, I'm all ears. Though I prefer the Woody Allen type more than the Whit Stillman version. There's only so much pretension I can take.