Living in Oblivion – 1995

Movie reviews for the masses

This will be a short review. Although there were several stars in this movie, it’s not an A movie, it’s not a B movie, not even a C or D. This is an F for this movie FUCKING sucks! I mean, how many times are these nitwits going to make a movie about making a movie? It doesn’t work… EVER. Any filmmaker who ever pitches this idea again should be kicked in the arse and thrown out the door.

So this piece of crap starred Steve Buscemi as director Nick. I usually like this guy but he hammed the shit out of this role. His partner was Dermot Mulroney… or was it Dylan McDermott? It’s another crappy performance, so who really cares? The first time you see him he wore a ridiculous beret and you immediately knew his character was going to blow. Finally, Catherine Keener played Nicole, the lead actress. I’ve seen her in later movies, this was the first time I’ve seen her this young.

Anywho, it’s all for moot. The flick started in stark black and white, and you have no idea what was going on. It is so disturbing that, after a few hits of the devil’s lettuce, I started to freak out. Then you realize it’s a movie site in NYC and a bizarre quirk is used to differentiate the act of making the movie (in black and white) and the actual movie being filmed (in vibrant color). I’m sure the director thought this trick was brilliant and innovative, but it sucked. And it got worse: they kept filming the same scene over and over again. After the third time, you say to yourself, “they can’t possibly show this scene again, can they?” Oh but they do – it’s brutally cringe-worthy. However, not to be outdone, it got worse: the scene finally ends just as you are about to throw your remote through the TV, and, in true Dallas fashion, you realize the entire first third of the movie was a dream by Buscemi’s character.

Jiminy Christmas, I so wanted to just end the misery. But, for the sake of you, dear reader, I grabbed another beer, pulled up my big-boy pants and soldiered on. The second scene was as bad as the first, in fact, I dozed off multiple times. However, I came out of my slumber just in time to realize the second third of the movie was, you guessed it, another dream. This time by Nicole. At this point, I truly questioned how anyone would’ve paid a dime for this idiotic nonsense. It was so bad, I had to see what wiki says about the reception of this happy horseshit – and here it is:

The film won Tom DiCillo the Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. The film was acclaimed by critics. Rotten Tomatoes retrospectively gives it a score of 88% based on reviews from 32 critics.[1]

This thing won an award? “acclaimed by critics”?? See folks, this is why my reviews come in handy, I tell it like it is. If a movie blows, and let’s face it, many of them do, I will tell you. And BELIEVE YOU ME, this movie was a STEAMING, STINKIN, PILE OF SHIT! Even stink would say this stunk. So I give it one cowpie out of ninety.

Let me have it!