Scott Coffey directed Adult World, which I loved, so I decided to add Ellie Parker, his first film, to my queue. [Coffey’s last film is Rhino, and I have no idea what it is about or how one could see it.] Ellie Parker stars Naomi Watts as the titular protagonist, who is an actor trying to make it big in Hollywood and genuinely cares for her craft, but nothing in her life is rewarding her earnestness. Should she quit or keep trying?
It would be excellent if Coffey and the entire cast would remake Ellie Parker, which was originally a short film, assuming that they have more resources to invest in production quality because the technical issues make this film unwatchable. Even though I notice and appreciate good quality filmmaking, I have signed many a waiver if the story is good, the acting is superb, but the actual filmmaking is crap, but watching this film, even on the small screen, was like nails on a chalkboard, and it made it virtually impossible to focus on the quality of the performances, which were solid, and the story, which had merit and was honest. The sound, editing and composition was so excruciating that apparently Keanu Reeves made a cameo in this film, and I HAD NO IDEA!!!!!! I LOVE HIM.
I definitely do not know as much as Coffey about filmmaking, and everyone involved in Ellie Parker is wildly talented, but anyone who regularly consumes television shows and movies would notice the production problems even if a viewer could not articulate it. Not everyone who distributes a film for home viewing can afford to have subtitles with the film, but when the sound quality is this poor, it becomes a mortal blow. In a single scene, the background dead air sounds different and varies wildly from shot to shot, which completely distracts from the foreground sounds that we are supposed to be listening to. It was almost as if no one was actually in the same shot when the film was being made. Then the composition of that scene and the way that it is edited does not follow customary, visual logic to subconsciously communicate that two people are talking to each other. Usually if one person is talking to another, but the director decides not to show the two people talking in a single frame, but instead show one person in a single frame, then the other person in the next frame, the shot of one person will have the person facing right, and then when it cuts to the other person, the other person will be facing left. In this film, the single shot has them facing in the same direction, which creates a subconscious dissonance for the viewer and makes it hard to believe that they are actually talking to each other. We are talking below public access television quality. I love mumblecore movies, which have the lightest of budgets, but this movie makes the Duplass brothers seem like big movie moguls.
Apparently it took five years to make Ellie Parker so it was clearly a labor of love. Much of the actual material is hilarious, but because of the nature of production, the funny does not quite hit right, and the timing is off. The raw talent is abundant, but it just did not get showcased right. I believe there is a heaven, and after we get to meet God, all the people that we love, meet the cool people that we always wanted to know, I think there is a movie theater that shows movies if they were shot under perfect conditions, and this movie would play there. There are fantasy sequences to show us what the protagonist is really thinking, absurd, long takes of mortifying acting exercises. Honestly the best scenes are unexpected such as when Parker tangles with her agent’s secretary. Did I mention that Chevy Chase plays the agent? Unfortunately as good as the material and the acting is, nothing can save the movie from its production errors.
I appreciated the movie’s refusal to wrap things up with a tidy bow or making us feel hopeful. The beginning will give you anxiety if you hate bad driving, but by the end, there is some level of calm and peace. Ellie Parker is the perfect movie for people in the industry trying to make it big because it is probably more real in the lack of resolution and success, but still persisting. Watts gives it her all and completely lacks vanity, which is not a synonym for she looks like hell because she still looks great, but in all honesty, she is too big a star and talent to have to take a role like this in which her character is so desperate and messy. Apparently she was simultaneously filming The Ring 2 while making this film, and I am guessing this film did not pay the mortgage. If you leave not liking the character because she is a bit much, Coffey is not afraid of having horrible heroines who are cringeworthy, which I enjoy, instead of making women inhuman images of perfection.
Another reason to watch Ellie Parker is Mark Pellegrino. There are a lot of great performances, maybe even better than Pellegrino’s in this particular film, including but not exclusively Rebecca Rigg who plays the protagonist’s best friend, but I am giving him a special shout out because he always gives solid performances as Jacob in Lost, Lucifer in Supernatural, a big bad in US’ version of Being Human among many roles, but I bet most people take him for granted. Well, I don’t. He is a national treasure and the best.
Even without the production problems, I would not recommend that you watch Ellie Parker if you suffer from secondhand embarrassment. The protagonist’s incessant humiliation is difficult to watch as her dedication and enthusiasm gets consistently deflated and knocked to the ground. If you suffer from plenty of that in real life, you really need a break, and this movie is not for you. Her eager self-abasement to fully embody her characters is difficult to watch. Sure I appreciate how the sausage gets made, but let’s not conflate it with necessarily wanting to see the sausage get made. The first half feels incredibly dispiriting in a way that Adult World’s commitment to the lucrative career of being a poet did not. I think that the main difference is the implicit knowledge of people like Weinstein and the setting of the film. Acting is a field ripe for exploitation and filled with danger in contrast to the aura of what attracts people to that career whether it is fame, artistry or an intangible, unarticulated benefit that draws people to it whereas no one becomes a poet for the same reason, right?
I do not recommend that you watch Ellie Parker. It is a dreadfully crafted film that smothers the golden nuggets of brilliance contained therein. On the other hand, if you do not think that the production quality would bother you, and I never thought that I would be one of those people, but here we are, then I suppose that if you are a fan of the cast or are a wannabe actor, it is worth a shot, but I would still discourage you from wasting your ninety-five minutes of your time trying to get through the mess.