Ellie Parker
DIRECTED BY SCOTT COFFEY
If ever there were a movie designed to show would-be actors the pitfalls and misery one must go through to establish a career, Ellie Parker is it. The movie is a voyeuristic view of an actress (played dazzlingly by Naomi Watts, pictured) and the hardships and anxieties she endures while going from one audition to the next. Shot with a gritty handheld video camera, it feels like a reality show (which, unfortunately, would have felt more fresh had it been made in 2001, when the original short film it’s based on premiered at Sundance). Drawing from years of experience—having acted small roles since Ferris Bueller’s Day Off—writer-director Scott Coffey fills the movie with clichés (including a guy sleeping with Parker just to “figure out” if he is gay) that work for the very reason that Hollywood seems to be built of them. This movie could prove a great tool for parents whose kids say they want to move to Hollywood to be the next Julia Roberts.
Bob Merrick
