MY LIFE'S IN TURNAROUND
A film review by Dorothy Pomerantz
Copyright 1994 Dorothy Pomerantz
It seems like there's a definite trend nowadays towards making TV shows and movies about nothing. Yes, I do think Jerry Sienfeld helped this along--but for some reason this nothingness has been associated with the 20 something crowd. Maybe it's because of SLACKERS, I don't know. But MY LIFE'S IN TURNAROUND takes nothing and makes it about something. Not about something so much as about getting off your ass and doing something. In SLACKER and REALITY BITES , the kids never actually do anything. The movies end and we are content knowing that maybe they found love or maybe they found something to do with their days, but they didn't reall accomplish anything. At the end of MY LIFE'S IN TURNAROUND, you know they actually did something, created a piece of art, because you're watching it.
MY LIFE'S IN TURNAROUND is about two guys (the authors, directors, producer, stars) who decide to make a movie. They have no ideas, no script and maybe no talent. They seem to think that they don't need any of this stuff though, people will want to watch what they do, though we're not exactly sure what that is. They're only guidance is their friend Sarah who runs a talent agency and puts up with a lot of shit from them. She tries to "get them meetings" with various producers but they manage to mess them all up with their lack of direction.
Everyone says they need a star attached to the project. Miraculously, they run into Phoebe Cate and Martha Plimpton (separately) and charm them into starring in their film (for which they have no idea or script).
If this sounds boring and weird, it isn't. You are compelled to watch what it is these guys do, although they don't do much of anything. They're just really funny. It's a pleasure to watch. I and most of the rest of the audience laughed the whole way through. They are like your funniest friends entertaining you for an hour and a half. Their language is complete with words not found, casual obscenities and "like"s and "umm"s. They charm Martha Plimpton into joining the film by relating some truly gross but somehow funny stories. It's hard to know if these guys really understand what they've got. It's easy to confuse their screen personalities with their real personalities because the movie seems so autobiographical. But they both end up with beautiful girl friends and its all very neat.
The film does lapse into unnecessary sentimentality at some points. Jason (who is always surrounded by fourteen-year-old models) is dealing with the fact that his father was more successful them him at that age and that he ultimately killed himself. It's a useless plot device to give the character a little more depth, but it doesn't come in to much. And when it does, it's accompanied by corny piano music which also fades in the background mercifully quickly. The rest of the soundtrack is pretty good stuff though.
The other problem I had with this film is that they were pretty shitty to women but they got the girls in the end. It was a little like they said, well, our methods don't work in real life, lets make our film personalities live out that dream. Although they are charming and funny--they're guy-guys to the worst degree and I was a little mad about that. Also, they treat their friend Sarah terribly and she just goes--oh, you guys. They are cute, but I don't know how many thinking girls out there would want to date them.
The two guys were actually at this screening which was a surprise. They're a lot fatter in real life then they appeared on screen which I thought was strange. But they were pretty down to earth about the whole film making thing. I hope they get the opportunity to do more stuff, because I really enjoyed this movie and I think they might have potential.
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