Hacks

Two scriptwriters are talking privately (they think) while, from across a coffee shop, an agent reads their lips, each speaker in turn, like HAL eavesdropping in "2001"... this is a movie about TV professionals trying to stay afloat as they feed the medium's insatiable appetite for material "dark... but not too dark... how dark depends on whether we get Sunday at 7 or Thursday at 10." Either you like this kind of insider-y stuff or you don't--I confess I have a weakness for it. And Illeana Douglas can do absolutely no wrong.

"The Big Twist" was a good title- recently shown on HBO. This is well-constructed, creative comedy, that doesn't rely on slapstick.

Stephen Rea and Ileana Douglas are very good (she was also excellent in "Ghost World") John Ritter and Dave Foley hysterical- as two desperate TV writers, trying to come up with a new gimmick.Wish Ritter got better film offers in his short career- instead of films like Kindergarten Cop or whatever it was called.

There are some funny scenes- where they have to take a bus in LA- and remark how Hollywood used to be glamorous, now it looks like Guatemala.

There are also scenes with Douglas at the Château Marmont- Ryan O'Neal portrays Rea's psychiatrist. Lisa Kudrow and Jason Priestley also have bit parts. Some scenes work better than others, all in all this is a decent comedy that is worth a try.

The script of Gary Rosen is the real star of this satiric depth-charge with Hollywood as the prime target, obviously written from the inside by Someone Who Knows. A genuine sleeper, it boasts a boss cast adept at Altmanesque overlapping dialogue: Stephen Rea and the underrated Illeana Douglas. Here's a gem that slipped between the cracks with a plot with more twists than a pretzel.

I'm not sure why this is categorized as a mystery. It's really more of a jaundiced look at Hollywood, ala "Swimming With Sharks" or, a bit of a stretch, "Sunset Boulevard." There is the mystery of just what happened on that balcony, but it is never really followed-up on. Instead, it serves as the starting point for three writing duos to put together ideas for a new television series that one of them, a seasoned writer, has been offered. It took a while for this one to get going--too many disparate plot lines, etc.--but once it did, it was pretty good. I was surprised by the relatively well-known cast, since this was, apparently, a direct-to-video release. You could certainly do worse for a one-night rental.

Saw it on HBO or Cinemax a while back, twice mind you. Starts off kind of slow but even then has enough one-liners to keep one interested. When the gloves come off between these writers the laughs are numerous as the viscous world of Hollywood gets exposed. Dave Foley and John Ritter are great together as a duo of screenwriters hoping to get a coveted job. The other teams also have memorable moments, such as Richard Kind sucking up to the producer by offering him Chococinnos. While not a phenomenal movie, there have been worse that are released widely. Just another example of what mainstream audiences are missing.