Living in Oblivion *** (1995, Steve Buscemi, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney) – Classic Movie Review 1780

Writer-director Tom DiCillo in 1995 parodies the making of his Brad Pitt film Johnny Suede (1991), in another offbeat, comic and charming style exercise, with an astringent insider’s view of low-budget film-making.

Steve Buscemi is hilarious as the intelligent but slimy and pathetic film-maker Nick Reve, who finds that everything seems to get in the way of directing a great independent American movie the way he wants to make it. Among the effective cast, Dermot Mulroney is Wolf the cameraman, Kevin Corrigan his assistant, Matthew Grace the boom man, James LeGros the star and Catherine Keener the female lead.

DiCillo delivers a highly entertaining, engagingly quirky movie with some great stuff for everybody who likes movie-making gossip.

‘I never intended to make a movie about film-making,’ says DiCillo. ‘It just happened. I’m not fixated on my profession, nor do I feel people in it are automatically interesting as subjects of scrutiny and self-adoration. Ironically, the screenplay emerged at a time when I was most disillusioned with film-making. Making the film restored my faith.’

© Derek Winnert 2014 Classic Movie Review 1780

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