Mistress

Day 188 - 7/7/09 - Movie #188

BEFORE: Maybe I need to lighten things up a little after movies about CIA agents and congressional hearings - this is another film about making films (De Niro plays a producer this time, instead of a director...), but that's often a bad sign since I've seen too many movies about the movie biz already. You know that old saying about how there are two things you don't want to see made - laws and sausages? Well, I'd add movies to that list. Oh sure, if you like a good "behind-the-scenes" extra on a DVD, by all means watch (I tend not to) - but making a film about making a film is usually a copout, with a few notable exceptions.

THE PLOT: A comedy about a screenwriter whose old movie script is read by a producer and the search for financial backers begins. But it seems that each money source has his own mistress that he wants put into the film. Gradually, the screenwriter is forced to make changes to his script.

AFTER: Jeez, we get it - Hollywood people are all either lying businessmen, their neurotic wanna-be actress wives, or their shrewd actress mistresses...except our noble screenwriting hero, of course. Who wrote this? This has got to be some giant ego boost for a screenwriter...

It's something of an ensemble piece, with Robert Wuhl as the screenwriter, Martin Landau as the deal-making producer, Eli Wallach, Danny Aiello and De Niro as the investors, and Jean Smart and Sheryl Lee Ralph as the actress/girlfriends. Except for Wuhl, the cast tries to make something good out of what they've been given.

The problem is, this film is not funny enough to be considered a good comedy, and not serious enough to be considered a good drama, and the concept of a Hollywood shoot (or script/deal, in this case) going off the rails has been done better many times before. ("The Player", for one) And none of the characters seem to learn anything from their mistakes here, so really, what's the point?

RATING: 3 out of 10 contracts

DENIR-O-METER: 2 - De Niro produced this mess, but only appears in 3 or 4 scenes. He does play a good slick (but non-distinctive) Hollywood weasel in a short time though.