The Auteur is a moderately funny movie that exemplifies the advantages and drawbacks of the aggressively indy low-budget scene. On the one hand, it's a movie about Arturo Domingo (Melik Malkasian), the world's greatest living porn director, full of jokes and references and scenes of the kind that must find their way into dozens of Hollywood scripts but always wind up on the cutting-room floor (even in these days of R-rated raunchfests). On the other, there are dramatic scenes where it's clear that director James Westby just didn't have enough coverage of the actors actually talking to each other, and so the movie drops into shots of two people looking intently at each other as their voices continue over.Malkasian is fine for the comedy, but he doesn't quite hit the right moments for the dramatic parts of the movie -- or, perhaps, his character is such a caricature (such a comedy piece) that it can't stretch that way. The rest of the cast is equally amiable -- nobody stinks up the place, or is incredibly good, but they all get through their scenes professionally.
The Auteur is funny, though, particularly in its porn parodies -- from Five Easy Nieces to the apocalyptic Full Metal Jackoff -- and it tries hard in its dramatic moments. As far as recent comedies go, you could do vastly worse than this -- and you're very likely to be the first person in your circle to see it!
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Listening to: Okkervil River - Another Radio Song
via FoxyTunes
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