The Trouble with Dee Dee

This movie is a riot - we were lucky enough to see it at the Chicago International Film Festival and the entire audience laughed out loud throughout the film. Lisa Ann Walter (playing Dee Dee) is a comic genius: She brings so much dimension to the character. Dee is crazy, lovable, annoying and courageous all at once. She's so "out there" that you just can't help but root for her. Kurtwood Smith gives a powerful performance as Dee Dee's father. The scene in his painting studio/office where he "loses it" was superb; and the one in the hospital with his loyal assistant Stuart (played by Jeff Clampitt)is great also. The rest of the cast is excellent too. Keep a watch out for J.P. Manoux, because he is going places for sure. This is Mike Meiners' first full feature movie, but it does not show at all. The directing, editing, etc. is top-notch, and the soundtrack is awesome. I really hope others get to see this film - it is laugh-out-loud-funny. Mike Meiners' full-feature debut is a hit.

The Trouble With DeeDee in so many words is that she'd like to be Auntie Mame for the 21st century. But Rosalind Russell did not have a father looking over her shoulder. And in fact Mame Dennis did spend herself into bankruptcy, had her nephew taken from her custody, and was lucky enough to marry wealthy again and inherit it when she became a widow. All that does not happen in The Trouble With DeeDee.

What does happen is Kurtwood Smith as her father is about to lose what little remaining hair he has over the behavior of his irrepressible daughter Lisa Ann Walter. He's looking to retire and wants his daughter and one and only child to straighten out and start assuming the responsibility of the Rutherford Foundation where she will be the only blood Rutherford on the board if that ever happens.

So after a few warnings which Smith eventually throws out DeeDee and her entourage which include her son Mason Gamble who is gay and her factotum J.P. Manoux. Gamble would also like his mother to grow up, he's growing up faster than she, but he does support her eccentricities up to a point and she despite some misgivings supports him and his sexual orientation.

What happens in this film is that Smith and Walter meet each other halfway so to speak. Maybe even more for Smith who realizes his daughter though flaky is a person of a good heart.

Script and story are the bedrock of any film and I did like the characters that were created and brought to life by the players here. In fact Lisa Ann Walter ought to consider touring in Mame.

I sat through this amateurish mess at the Rhode Island Film Festival and dear god, it was tedious. The lead actress is actually quite charming, given what she has to work with; but there is simply no getting past a script this bad. The characters are one-dimensional and cartoonish -- DeeDee the crazy cutup, the stern patrician father with a hidden sensitive side -- and the story simply doesn't make sense. Particularly laughable are the "board meetings," scenes clearly conceived by a writer who has never been inside a boardroom and whose idea of this world comes straight from television. I haven't heard dialogue this hackneyed in a long time. If you make it to the mawkish ending, you will be punished for your patience. Never, never see this film.

It isn't very often that I laugh this hard at a movie. Lisa Ann Walter had me in stitches. J P Manoux's performance was awesome as well. His lines were minimal but his facial expressions said volumes. Kurtwood Smith gave another great performance as expected. For those of you that are used to seeing his hardnose characters such as his role in Dead Poets Society, you know what I'm talking about. The films pacing was good with a fairly fast comedic clock which is not easy for a film to maintain. Even though this film reports a budget of 750 grand it comes off like a Hollywood production with a much higher budget. The few things that I would point out that only perhaps a filmmaker might notice as weekpoints would be one; the music. The score was great and quirky when it needed to be but lacked some emotional punch when it really needed it. There were two scenes in particular (which I won't mention) that should have had you crying your eyes out but with no fault of the acting failed to deliver. Second, the cinematography while pretty good at times found itself confused. I recall during the film being annoyed by the camera not being able to find the right position. It would jump the line and irratically go from a tight shot to a wide shot to a medium shot to an over the shoulder to a...if you uderstand this stuff you know what I'm talking about. Apparently, from watching the way the majority of the film was cut this was no fault of Mike Meiners who made a fantastic film in all other respects. If you have a chance to see this film by all means do it. You won't be disappointed. By the way, did I mention that The Chicago International Film Festival is a great place to see a premiere film?

Why can't all comedies be this good? I loved this film. Lisa Ann Walter gives an amazing performance -- her "Dee Dee" is completely charismatic: brash, blissfully un-self-conscious, irrepressible, warm-hearted, stubborn, sassy and hilarious. Kurtwood Smith as her father is the perfect foil for her: the two of them are like oil and water. It is obvious from the beginning that neither character truly "gets" the other--and isn't that true of most parent/child relationships? Through all of the film's kooky twists and turns, Mike Meiners' deft hand at the camera and his right-on-the-money script carry us along with Dee Dee and her father as they develop a real understanding of themselves and of each other. By the end of the film, after laughs galore and several very poignant scenes too, father and daughter have forged a connection they never had before. The film yields up so many comedic gems: the director's own turn as the persistent cop who is increasingly frustrated by Dee Dee is one of my favorites of these -- as is J.P. Manoux's hilarious turn as Dee Dee's ever-faithful "help," Yugo, and Mason Gamble as Dee Dee's gay son Christopher, who does "get" his mother and in a great bit of role-reversal often finds himself having to act as the parent figure in their relationship. The soundtrack is wonderful -- quirky and evocative without being intrusive. Mike Meiners displays a profound understanding of the misunderstandings that can plague parents and their children and tells his story with humor and with heart. For a first full-length feature film, this work is impressive indeed. I look forward to Meiners' next project!