30 Second Bottom Line: Hollywood lives and lies (is that redundant?) are examined in pseudo-documentary style. A film within a film…within a film, participants in this experiment introduce themselves, with vital statistics (name, age and occupation) appearing on screen. Most are involved in the "Industry"…in LA you know what that means.
Story Line: Calvin Cummings (Blair Underwood) is an actor, who portrays an actor named Nicholas in "Rendezvous," the movie being shot during the making of the "documentary"; and the third film within this cinematic puzzle.
Francesca Davis (Julia Roberts) is the co-star of "Rendezvous." She plays Catherine, a magazine writer who is conducting an interview with Nicholas. There is an obvious sexual chemistry between the two characters.
Lee and Carl Bright (Catherine Keener and David Hyde Pierce) are in a troubled marriage. Lee is sexually frustrated and bitter. In her job as a Human Resource VP, she has a penchant for an off beat and sexually harassing approach to recruiting. Carl is a self-effacing, surprisingly compassionate man who is a writer and whose wife finds him boring.
Arty (Enrico Colantoni) is Carl's collaborator on a play about Hitler, written with modern day colloquialisms. Nicky Katt is the Fuhrer and a name-dropping actor, whose day job (and nights after the performance) is teaching Pilates classes. Arty is a lonely man who dabbles with meeting women on the Internet. He has lied about his name and age and has arranged to meet a woman in Tucson, which is where she thinks he lives. As you might guess, the woman too has lied about her identity. Linda (Mary McCormack), who happens to be Lee's sister, agrees to meet Arty in Tucson. As a masseuse she never gives clients her real name. She's known as Ann, which is what she tells Arty.
In the fictionalized film "Rendezvous," Catherine interviews Nicholas and asks if he's ever gone to a therapist. Instantly, he says "No." He can't relate to someone who is "selling you to yourself." The conversations between these two characters reveal much about what society still sees as appropriate portrayals for black actors, especially when it comes to sex. A cab ride shared with Catherine where Nicholas raps on "the state of the chocolate leading man in Hollywood" is worth the price of admission. And the closing shot for "Rendezvous" says it all.
The ever talked about, seldom seen mega-producer Gus (David Duchovny) is the pivotal character around whom everyone seems to orbit. Gus is definitely ready for his close-up as he prepares himself in his hotel suite. It's his birthday and there's a big party. He's giving himself a present, which is a tremendous surprise to his waiting guests.
In spite of some self-conscious moments and a few Hollywood insider jokes, this is a fun, easy to follow tale, with a wicked twist.
Tell Me More About It: Director Soderbergh's first feature film was 1989's "sex, lies and videotape." This film took less than three weeks to shoot, mostly with hand held cameras. With a budget of $2 M Soderbergh required a set of rules for his cast of stars to adhere to; including, you will drive yourself to the set, which are all practical locations, hotels and private homes. Further, you will pick, provide and maintain your own wardrobe; you will maintain your own hair and make-up; and improvisation will be encouraged. I'm almost positive that Blair Underwood wrote his rap.
"Full Frontal" features many cameo appearances. It's fun to see who you can find among the scenery.
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