Reviewed by Janina Conboye
Stars Giovanni Ribisi, Jason Lee, Franka Potente, Christina Ricci, Vince Vaughn,
Joshua Jackson, Marisa Coughlan, Judy Greer, Nicky Katt, Lake Bell, Kathleen Robertson, Elvis Costello
UK certification 15 | UK RRP £15.99 | DVD region 2 | Runtime 107 minutes| Written & directed by Adam Goldberg
Fame leads to obsession, leads to insanity — all of us at some point might like the idea of being famous, but for some there is a high price to pay. This film is particularly apt, given that we live in age where the world and her mother are chomping at the bit for their 15 minutes of fame — and more if they can get it.
Hollywood star Gray Evans (Ribisi) and his wife Mia Lang (Potente) have been married for a year, but their tempestuous relationship is beginning to take its toll, as their marriage becomes detached from reality and begins to fall apart. The fallout is fuelled by endless glamorous premieres, celebrity parties and Gray's boozing and narcissism. Gray becomes convinced he is constantly being stalked, resulting in strange hallucinations, and Gray himself begins to stalk video store clerk John (Jackson) and his wife Jane (Coughlan), whose simple lives away from the cameras appear happier than his own.
Gray gradually undergoes a total psychological collapse as he rapidly sinks deeper into an unstable state. He experiences fantasies and obsesses over the supposedly normal lives of those around him. But what he doesn't realise is that the normality he sees is also being gnawed at by the costs of fame or the obsession over trying to achieve it. Normality is something Gray once had and as his fame and success throw his life and mind into chaos, he questions the price of a life in the spotlight. The script, written by the director Goldberg, is excellent and the cast are impeccable. The arthouse style that draws inspiration from the likes of Hitchcock, Scorsese and French new-wave directors lures the viewer into the abstract mind of Gray. Its excentricity almost has a strange air of Andy Warhol about it. There are also cameos from Vince Vaughn and Elvis Costello. The film is an intriguing way of exploring fame and our perception of it. And what you get perhaps isn't always what you thought you wanted.
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