Top Box Office Movies - Full Frontal

Full Frontal (2002) Miramax Films
1 hr. 41 mins.
Starring: David Duchovny, Nicky Katt, Catherine Keener, Mary McCormack, David Hyde Pierce, Julia Roberts, Blair Underwood
Directed by: Steven Soderbergh

Full Frontal

Rating:

E-MAIL FRANK OCHIENG

Photo: Miramax Films

So director Steven Soderbergh felt compelled to go the raw, experimental route by temporarily switching his filmmaking style? And that's fine if he creatively wanted to abandon his usual stable of dependable box office bonuses: "Ocean's Eleven", "Erin Brockovich", "Traffic", "The Limey", etc. But in the pretentious and staid moviemaking satire "Full Frontal", one wouldn't have minded if Soderbergh considered holding off this phase of cinematic spontaneity in favor of one more secure and coherent mainstream film.

Relentlessly grainy in its digital video format and incessantly self-indulgent to boot, "Full Frontal" begs to envoke the Dogme 95 guidelines by incorporating a "carefree" approach to stripping away the conventional padding of a motion picture's exuberant structure. Although this practice is meant to focus on the naked rawness of its central characters without elaborate technological distractions, Soderbergh's fable never allows you to enjoy this lopsided celluloid experiment. This is probably because the characterizations aren't honest enough for us to care about since they're self-absorbed neurotics playing second fiddle to a tiring perfunctory premise dealing with the dysfunctional workings of a cutthroat movie industry. There are countless of savvy films that cater to the skewing of showbiz so Soderbergh's misguided and anemic offering here only trivializes his efforts that much more.

"Full Frontal" is based upon a series of monologues by playwright and Soderbergh associate Coleman Hough. The movie ridiculously dips in and out of sync with an erratic narrative detailing the lives of some colorful people with an assortment of personal kooky issues during a 24 hour period in an otherwise dippy L.A. landscape. With the assistance of a jittery hand-held digital video camera, Soderbergh's intention was to capture the self-involving tendencies of his players whom were instructed by the director to shown up and improvise their scenes in an attempt to be bare and audacious. Unfortunately, this "high wire act-sans-the safety net" sentiment never quite clicks and we're left wondering where the true hilarity stems from--is it the familiar feeble-minded smugness at bashing the transparent artistry in Hollywood or the clumsy way Soderbergh tries to display his shoddy observation?

In showcasing this movie-within-a-movie theme, "Rendezvous" co-stars Francesca (Julia Roberts sporting a helmet-shaped hairdo) and her studmuffin black co-star Calvin (Blair Underwood) are playing footsies while shooting their flick. And if Calvin isn't satisfied carving a notch in his belt regarding his leading lady, then he's messing around with Lee (Catherine Keener), a miserable and intimidating film executive who likes to play emotional head games with her bewildered staff. Lee is one piece of work and her antics are pretty much a cry for some serious help.

Lee's frustrated husband is Carl (David Hyde Pierce), a worrywart of a man who juggles his writing duties as a magazine columnist, screenwriter and playwright. Carl is depressed and fears that his professional and personal life are slipping away right before his very eyes. The latest project that Carl has hatched on stage is a little ditty entitled "The Sound and the Fuhrer" with a comical actor (Nicky Katt) in the role as an animated Hitler. Meanwhile, Carl's sister-in-law Linda (Mary McCormack), a masseuse, desperately tries to find love and happiness through the mysteries of cyberspace, much to the dismay of the conflicted Lee.

The gathering of this beleaguered group of lost souls will eventually center around a big shot movie producer named Gus (David Duchovny) as the setting calls for celebrating the movieman's 40th birthday. Thus, this allows more interaction for the foibles of these protagonists to snowball into a more convoluted predicament.

One can understand Soderbergh's penchant for freedom in the way he helms this informal cinematic session. But the choppy shoot makes this production a meandering curiosity even though Soderbergh figured this bit would lend some credible dimension to the drama of his problematic cast. Everything here feels inherently stagey and the abrupt editing methods are thuddingly distracting. Soderbergh wants the audience to experience the plodding goings-on of his "brave" performers but there's no passion or motivation for us to appreciate their self-serving antics in what amounts to be a gimmicky finger-pointing examination at the exhausting exploits of the fickle entertainment field.

"Full Frontal" tells us nothing more than what we already know about the smarmy atmosphere that is Tinseltown and all its opportunistic clueless and callous victims. If Soderbergh wanted to expose the business up close and personal with the sincere simplicity of a mere camera lens, then couldn't he have accomplished this feat without the sledgehammer direction of a labored and obvious spoof? All this exorcise reveals is that we have one certain Oscar-winning filmmaker with lots of time on his hands.

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Frank Ochieng
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