BEFORE: I think I like this week, the one right before July 4. There's not a lot of new TV, which is great because I'm a week behind after my weekend in Portland. And there are no new movies on cable, so I'm continuing to chip away at the size of the watch list, it's now down to 168. Linking from "Julia", Meryl Streep carries over, and I'm back on the lives of actors/actresses.
THE PLOT: Substance-addicted Hollywood actress Suzanne Vale is on the skids. After a spell at a detox centre her film company insists as a condition of continuing to employ her that she live with her mother.
AFTER: I know that Carrie Fisher wrote the screenplay for this film, so it's more or less based on her real-life experiences, and her relationship with her mother, Debbie Reynolds. The cop movie that serves as the film-within-the-film could therefore be a reference to "Hollywood Vice Squad", which Carrie Fisher starred in.
We see Suzanne (Carrie) go through a drug overdose, then detox and rehab. After that it's hard for her to get insured for future acting jobs, unless she consents to the sitcom-like premise of moving back in with her mother. And Doris (Debbie) is the ultimate stage-mom, having been an actress herself, and possessing the ability to simultaneously cut her daughter down and somehow make any conversation about herself at the same time.
It's a challenge for anyone to try and work out career problems and relationship issues at the same time. But doing that while shooting a film and fighting addiction, all at the same time, the difficulty level is off the charts. I liked the behind-the-scenes filmmaking stuff, because I know that world, and I find it entertaining. Certainly on a par with the stagecraft seen in "Me and Orson Welles".
Also starring Shirley MacLaine (last seen in "The Trouble With Harry"), Dennis Quaid (last seen in "Wyatt Earp"), Gene Hackman (last seen in "Another Woman"), Richard Dreyfuss (last seen in "Once Around"), Annette Bening (last seen in "Ruby Sparks"), CCH Pounder, Mary Wickes, Conrad Bain (last seen in "Bananas"), Simon Callow (last seen in "Howards End"), with cameos from Rob Reiner, Oliver Platt (last seen in "Love & Other Drugs"), Michael Ontkean (last seen in "Slap Shot"), Anthony Heald, Dana Ivey.
RATING: 5 out of 10 cutaways
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