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Review #65 of 365
Film: Ellie Parker (2005) [NR] 95 minutes
WIP: $6.75
When 1st Seen: 16 March 2006
Where Viewed: Regency Tamarac Square, Denver, CO
Time: 7:05 p.m.
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DVD |
Scott Coffey created Ellie Parker for a short film which debuted in 2001. Apparently, the short film was good enough to convince people to have Mr. Coffey create a feature-length version of the film featuring the film’s eponymous, down-on-her-luck actress and again starring Aussie Naomi ‘from Ring to King’ Watts. For about the first 16 minutes or so, I thought the film was pretty good too. When 16 became 32, and 32 became 40, and 40 became 44, and 44 became 45, I didn’t know any more. Sixteen minutes, by the way, I think is how long the short film was. Maybe, there just isn’t enough of a story here for 960 minutes…er…I meant 96 minutes but it felt like 960 minutes. First, there’s nothing wrong with Naomi Watts. She does an outstanding job of creating Ellie Parker. From her I-always-thought-this-was-Hollywood-myth, in-car, pre-audition, make-overs including doing hair, make-up, and costume change while driving the 405, to her near ‘Meryl Streepian’ accent changes for the auditions, to the energy of the auditions, to her near brilliant absorption into the emotional maelstrom that grips Ellie Parker’s soul, Ms Watts does or has it all right on the money. The subsidiary cast, all of whom appear in the short film as well, includes fellow Aussie Rebecca Riggs (as Ellie’s only friend), Mark ‘Capote’s Richard Hickock’ Pellegrino (as Ellie’s ne’er to well, guitar hero boyfriend) , Chevy Chase (as Ellie’s doesn’t-seem-to-really-be-working-too-hard-for-her agent), and director/writer Scott Coffey (as nerd guy who uses Ellie to determine his sexuality once and for all in a scene that epitomizes her downward spiral). Occasionally shallow or slightly stereotypical, these four also do no harm to the film. So, if it’s not the acting then what? Well, the cinematography was effected. Meaning that the movie was filmed so as to be nearly always focused on Ellie Parker in sort of a month-in-the-life-of-a-not-so-famous-actress-reality-tv series. The film was somewhat washed out, grainy, nearly black and white of effect. Lifeless. Or, maybe it looked like the life was draining out of it as the frames flickered by. Needless to say, as much as I love it when directors take risks and do things that utilize the medium in ways to capture the emotions or deeper meanings of a film, again, this was just too much of this effect for just too long a duration. Certainly, I could have handled it for 16 minutes, but not 960…err…96 minutes (Did I already use that joke?...consider it a glimpse into my state of mind right now which may give you all you need to know about ever seeing this film). So, the filming and the film in this movie didn’t work for me at all. Which, still, in and of itself, might be able to be overlooked were it not for one final not so great thing about the film. I’ve said it time and again. Some might say it’s trite or un-artistic, but for me, a movie is really nothing more than a story on screen with people pretending to be the people they are portraying. If the story is good, sometimes you can completely over look everything else. If it’s not, then all the other stuff just starts to grate on your nerves. I don’t think I have any nerves left. I’m worried about seeing another movie today without any functional synapses in my brain. No, seriously, though, Ellie Parker is just not a very good 96-minute long story. There is nothing about her past and nothing about her future. We have no clue why she’s the way she is or what really motivates her other than that which Ms Watts embeds via her performance which, sadly, for me wasn’t enough. And, again for me, part of what makes a really good story, is the sort of basic 101 storytelling, the main character is on life’s journey and shows some growth along the way. Well, Ellie Parker is going no where fast and gaining little insight into life or herself along the way, except, I suppose that she does figure out that she doesn’t know who she is or why she’s doing what she does. Wow! That’s not very helpful. I guess my advice then is that it might be better to try to get a hold of the 16-minute short film instead. Even if it’s got the same problems as the long version, at least your not-so-great experience will last only16 minutes of your life instead of 960…I mean 96. Oh, and I almost forgot. If you have never gotten a glimpse of Keanu Reeves’s band Dogstar—well, here’s your chance. The band does appear in the film and gets 25 cents of the W.I.P. Scale™ score for the film.
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Ellie Parker [DVD] (2005) DVD
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