Girl Gone Wild:
the Janeane Garofalo
Story
Girl gone wild: the Janeane Garofalo story
P.O. Box 11242
Richmond, VA 23230
United States
webmaste
Jiminy Glick in LaLawood
Glick clicks in Lalaland |
| JIMINY GLICK IN LALALAND Directed by Vadim Jean, Starring Martin Short, Jan Hooks, Linda Cardellini, Janeane Garofalo, John Michael Higgins, Opens Fri, May 6, hhhjk He’s so big that Dave, Jay, and Oprah literally stand in his shadow. He’s the biggest small-town celebrity interviewer that Butte, Montana has ever had to offer. He’s Jiminy Glick, and now devotees of the Comedy Central series Primetime Glick can see his character’s struggles before all the fame and glory, in Jiminy Glick in Lalaland. Of course, Glick is the creation of Canadian comedy veteran Martin Short, and while the thought of sketch comedies getting big-screen treatment is usually enough to send moviegoers running for cover, Short and co-writers Paul Flaherty and Michael Short are able to take the barest of plots, combine it with the Glick TV show’s improv style, and actually make an improvised movie that works. The plot concerns Jiminy arriving to cover the Toronto International Film Festival with wife Dixie (Jan Hooks) and twin sons Matthew and Modine in tow. He’s bored with interviewing the same guests over and over again in Butte, and TO is his ticket to the big time. Or so he thinks. Reality starts to set in when he realizes that his reservations are not for the Fairmont Hotel, but the Fairmount Motel. Then none of the celebrities he talks to seems to know who he is. Kevin Kline gives him a polite but firm brush-off, and when the research-challenged interviewer talks to Whoopi, he thinks he’s talking to Oprah. Fate steps in when he falls asleep at a screening of Growin’ Up Gandhi, and winds up being the only critic in town to give it a rave review. Ben DiCarlo (Corey Pearson), the film’s reclusive and egotistical director-star, agrees to his first interview in five years, thereby catapulting Jiminy to A-list status. Access Hollywood wants to talk to him, as do Kurt Russell and Steve Martin. Fading Hollywood star Martha Cooledge (Elizabeth Perkins) wants to talk to Jiminy too, and when she’s later found dead in his bed, he thinks he’s to blame and gets tangled in a whodunit involving her narcissistic and malaprop-prone manager and two rappers. As a comment on society’s obsession with celebrity and infotainment, Lalaland is sharp, hilarious, and brilliant. It’s also refreshing to see Jiminy take a break from his cluenessness long enough to care for the wildly alcoholic Dixie. With the noirish murder subplot, things tend to lose focus and bog down, though it does allow Martin Short to evoke SCTV memories by doing a dead-on David Lynch impression. While you’ll enjoy it more if you’re a Primetime Glick fan, Lalaland is certainly worth seeing as an industry satire that you won’t have to strain your brain to enjoy. |
by Debbie Lynn Elias I used to be a Martin Short fan. He was always entertaining, cutting edge, funny to the point of tears-streaming-down-your-face-rolling-in-the aisles (as the inimitable Franck in the "Father of the Bride" films) and sincerely likeable, especially in two of my favorite performances - as Frick in "Merlin" and Rodney in "Prince Charming." Notice I used the word "was." Unfortunately, with his latest incarnation as Jiminy Glick, Short has gone too far with too little and ended up with too little too late. |
Martin Short starts out doing an admirable job of playing Glick but then quickly fades, seemingly in over his head, and then becomes more than annoying with his David Lynch impersonation. One of Short’s gifts is not only his ability to impersonate and/or create characters but to take well known personalities and while doing dead on mimicry, still give it his own personal spin, and make the character larger than life and with interesting or clever things to do in the story. Here, although he nails Lynch’s quirkiness, that’s where the character ends, falling flat and leaving the viewer with nothing but a "huh" and "what the heck was that" sensibility. Jan Hooks, on the other hand, is a hoot as Dixie Glick but its supporting cast members, Elizabeth Perkins, Linda Cardellini and especially, Janeane Garofalo, that provide substance and skill with their roles - especially Garofalo with her own patented brand of pathos. And of course, the cameo appearances reads like a Who! ’s Who of Hollywood - Whoopi Goldberg, Keifer Sutherland, Steve Martin, Jake Gyllenhaal, Kevin Kline, Rob Lowe, Sharon Stone, Susan Sarandon, Kurt Russell, Forest Whitaker - and the list goes on. Sadly, hasn’t Short heard of something as being "too much." I’m all for cameos, but enough is enough!
"Written" by Short together with long time writing partner Paul Flaherty, the improvisational format falls far short of the caliber of their other collaborations. With unnecessary sub-plots, inconsistency and obvious lack of focus, the storyline and improvisational screenplay cry for some serious script doctoring. (Where’s Carrie Fisher when you need her?) Unfortunately, director Vadim Jean then fails to add any interest or cohesiveness from his end, leaving the audience in their own "la la land" wondering why they wasted $10.00 on the price of admission.
Jiminy Glick will be floundering in his own flab after this one.
Jiminy Glick: Martin Short Dixie Glick: Jan Hooks Dee Dee: Janeane Garofalo
Written by Martin Short and Paul Flaherty. Directed by Vadim Jean. Rated R. (90 min)
Girl gone wild: the Janeane Garofalo story
P.O. Box 11242
Richmond, VA 23230
United States
webmaste
