The Grand Role
Picture: C+
Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C
In the later 1960s, French and Italian cinemas began to
deconstruct the idea of producing films, especially when Americans or their
money (read Hollywood) were involved.
Every possible kind of film that could have been done about this pretty
much has, but that did not stop director Steve Suissa from making The Grand
Role (2004) featuring the main conflict of an American actor (Peter Coyote)
getting a role intended for Maurice (Stéphane Freiss), a French actor excited
about winning the role until he realizes he did not.
The film could have been funny; especially by losing the
Hollywood bashing that seems sometimes hypocritical. Instead, we get a 90 minutes long piece that seems longer and is
certainly too drawn out for its own good.
The jokes are never funny, the situations never fresh, the actors no
given enough to do, the situation overall not that realistic and after all
this, maybe Maurice should have found a student filmmaker and tried to make a
more important film within the film. At
least the acting was not outright idiotic, something people criticize in
American films, but excuse in their French equivalent as somehow sophisticated
and clever. But then, some people are
in deep denial.
The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 X 1 image is a PAL source
to NTSC transfer than has ghosting, color issues and detail troubles that foil
and otherwise fine print source. The
Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has surprisingly no surrounds to speak of, despite
being a recent production and the music is often obnoxious to boot. Extras include an introduction by the
director, stills and four trailers for other First Run DVDs.
- Nicholas Sheffo
