"Okay kid, what's the pitch?"
"Well, Marilyn Monroe meets Michael Jackson in Paris and they-"
"Wait, what is this, time travel or something?"
"No, they're not the real deal, they're just celebrity lookalikes."
"Right. So then what?"
"Marilyn invites Michael to come and live in their commune for lookalikes, in the Scottish highlands."
"Interesting concept. So what happens?"
"All these lookalikes - they just kind of, you know, do stuff. Everyday stuff."
"Give me a plot outline."
"Just think of the great, wacky scenes we can have - James Dean rounding up sheep, Abe Lincoln swearing a lot, Jacko playing Charlie Chaplin at table tennis..."
"Which leads to what?"
"That's the main selling point really. Seeing really famous people doing ordinary stuff. It'll be hilarious."
"So you mean it's just like Stella Street."
"Well, yeah, but... not as funny."
"And that's it?"
"No, I'll make it a bit weird in places and I'll add various arty flourishes - portentous dialogue laced with the odd nutty non-sequitur, a bunch of stuff in slow motion, and a quirky variety of songs."
"So like a Wes Anderson film then?"
"Well, yeah, but... not as funny."
"Can't you do something to make it a bit more substantial?"
"Well, yeah, Werner Herzog's going to be a priest."
"Are most cinema audiences even going to recognise a Werner Herzog lookalike?"
"No, he's not a lookalike. I mean the real Werner Herzog. He'll play a priest in the movie."
"I see. So how does his story tie in to the lookalike stuff?"
"Well, actually, it doesn't. It kind of pads out the running time a bit but doesn't really have any connection to the rest of the movie. It'll give film students something to analyse though."
"So we've got a bunch of lookalikes talking nonsense and doing ordinary stuff, and we've got Werner Herzog playing a totally unconnected character."
"Um... Herzog's story will involve some flying nuns though."
"Here's some money. Go make me a movie!"

I reckon there will be plenty of people who'll like Korine's latest and I admit that, the above cynicism aside, there were one or two brief moments that really appealed to me. But this has the feeling of being one of those films that you either connect with it and really get it, or you really, really don't. I'm afraid I'm in the latter camp.

Give the film it's due, it's not like much else you'll see and it certainly doesn't pander to the blockbuster crowd, but I just didn't take to it at all. That said, it's probably worth a watch anyway because I have the feeling that as many people will love the movie as will come away feeling, like me, that it was an opportunity (and price of admission) wasted.

Watching the trailer, I was put in mind of mid-period, middlebrow Johnny Depp vehicles like BENNY & JOON. Which didn't exactly enthuse me.

Neither the trailer nor the premise looks interesting to me, but I'll always take a look at what Korine puts out.

Me too! :ph43r:

I'm really looking forward to Mr. Lonely. The cast sounds amazing:

James Fox, Samantha Morton, Denis Lavant, Werner Herzog, Anita Pallenberg, Richard Strange and Diego Luna.

Here's the positive NY Times review of the film (registration required).


http://movies.nytimes.com/2008/05/02/movie...html?ref=movies