Saw Hurlyburly last night, and if you are a self-absorbed
twit who has trouble connecting with anything outside yourself,
then this movie is about you.
Good ensemble cast: Sean Penn, Kevin Spacey, Gary Shandling,
Meg Ryan, and a few others whose names I don't know. The guy who
played Phil was perfectly cast in his role. The only one I didn't
think was cast well was Meg Ryan, who just didn't feel like the
all-to-loose stripper party-girl she was cast as.
The movie is about four guys, supposed Hollywood movers/shakers/actors
who seem to live, work and hang out with each other constantly.
But they are not really friends as they are so self-absorbed that
they don't connect with one another, and so self-absorbed that
they don't even realize it. Kevin Spacey has one of the best
lines when he says in response to Penn's heated question about
what kind of friendship they have. "Adequate," said
Spacey. So shallow. And it summarizes the theme perfectly, which
is such a level of self-absorbtion is nihilistic and leads to a
lack of connection which has got to be the worst form of
existence imaginable.
Penn has a great line after a quick screw with his pseuodo
girlfriend about being distracted. He lists the things that
distract him in life (read "from life")and the thing
that distracts him the most is himself.
Besides the thematic message, and the good interplay between
Penn and Spacey, the movie maker did a good job of reinforcing
the message with subtle and clever visuals. Penn and Spacey
chatting on their cell phones, even when they are standing next
to each other; Penn always seeing the reflection of himself in
his windows when he is outside having a looking-for-a-trace-of-humanity-fit;
the tv news always being on in the living room and never once
does any character connect with it, or is even able to watch it.
Penn's character tries once, but he is exasperated because he
can't figure out what all this stuff on the news has to do with
him. So he quickly retreats from this little attempt at
connection and gets absorbed into his own misery once again. The
tv news is a metaphor for reality, which no one in the movie is
able to connect with (much less each other). The movie maker (cinematographer?)
supported the theme very well with the insular nature of all the
visuals. Every scene feels insular -- the living room, the cars,
the office -- and it mirrors the nature of the characters whle
reinforcing the theme. Although it doesn't make for the kind of
visual feast I am used to seeing in movies, its subtly works
perfectly.
Worth renting, imo.
