Somewhere In The City
Picture:
C+ Sound: B- Extras: C Film: B-
Oh, the
challenge of showing reality on film, especially in urban areas. Of course, New York is usually the place for such
films since the school of thought in how to do these films grew out of
there. Ramin Niami’s Somewhere in the City (1997) wants to
show this world through multiple storylines, so you get all the dreamers, even
if they have trivial sex, have hang ups, and want to kill themselves. If we say that this is to be expected, then
we should ask what else the film has to offer.
Well,
there are Gay characters, but that is not the novelty it once was. There is definitely diversity in this film,
but it is so self-consciously a comedy that thinks that it is smarter than it
really is, that there are many things that backfire. Front and foremost is the casting of Sandra
Bernhard, who is once again given a role that simply has her repeat her
stand-up comic persona. Whereas in
Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy
(1984, which this film owes more than a passing debt), where she plays a
challenging very well, she is pretty much herself here. That means a wisecracking, angry, frustrated,
outspoken, and swearing every other word know it all.
But Niami
odes not stop there. The film is loaded
with funny arthouse film stereotype characters and gags. One of the lamest is the “let’s bash big Hollywood moviemaking because we need
filler moment” cracking jokes about a third Terminator film before one became a
reality. These comments could have been
funny years ago in the 1980s when real moviemaking was being pushed out by big
commercial fare, but with so many bad independent films and the boutique
companies that issue them, it is beyond unoriginal and pointless.
Robert
John Burke, the underrated actor who was Robocop as the franchise imploded,
makes a good showing here, as does Bai Ling, Paul Anthony Stewart, Ornella
Muti, and Peter Stormare of The Coen Brothers’ Fargo top a likable enough cast to make this whole film more
bearable than it would have been otherwise.
The storylines never gel in any way, and though not a total slop job,
have no point but to be self-amused.
Niami and co-screenwriter Patrick Dillon are just a bit too amused with
their pseudo-wittiness to notice all that goes wrong. Ultimately, this film is surprisingly
miserable and forgettable for a realistic film that thinks it is so
enlightened. Better luck next time.
The film
frame is surprisingly full frame, with some Video Black trouble that makes it
look second generation analog in quality.
Igor Sunara is the director of photography and his work also keeps
things going when the script does not.
Colors are fairly good, but the image is otherwise nothing to write home
about. The Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo has
good Pro Logic surrounds, while dialogue is clear. The use of music, including an original score
by The Velvet Underground’s John Cale, is another plus holding up a troubled
project. The few extras include a
20-frame photo gallery, several trailers (including for this film), and info on
Niami. Maybe that will help sell you on
it somehow, but if you want to see Somewhere
in the City, consider if you need to be somewhere else first. A Scorsese, Altman, or Paul Thomas Anderson
film, perhaps?
- Nicholas Sheffo
