The ridiculous side of modern celebrity worship is profiled through the performance of Steve Buscemi as an overly aggressive photo journalist who stocks celebrities in hopes of getting his photos published in the hot magazines and making it out of the independent rank of paparazzi with little morality in getting their job done. One day he encounters the homeless Michael Pitt who somehow get into Buscemi's heart as well as his closet, obtaining a job as his unpaid assistant. It's Buscemi's goal to get a picture of Allison Lohman, the latest hot commodity, as well as anyone above the D list. Stalking the streets of New York like a celebrity vulture, Buscemi turns Pitt's life around, giving his character a bit more depth even if it's impossible to completely like him. Buscemi's performance as a basically nasty opportunist is hysterically funny, not because the character is funny but because it's fun to laugh at how ridiculous he is.
This gets a rating from me above a below average simply because it had me laughing on and off at the ridiculous obsession with celebrity and notoriety, and the lecherous people the entertainment industry attracts because of the obsession to be star kissers. Many of the characters that appear in this film are abhorrent, and it's repulsive to watch them go out of their way to get glory when they really have nothing to offer. It's a very sad scene when Lohman's handlers tell her that she is being sued by her parents whom she has dumped out of her life simply because they want a piece of her pie. But it's difficult to spend two hours watching basically amoral people living such vapid lives. Pitt shows promise as the young desperate kid Buscemi helps out and begins to resent when he finds success in the business. After an hour, I felt very depressed realizing that this is the society we live in and nothing changes but the headlines.
This gets a rating from me above a below average simply because it had me laughing on and off at the ridiculous obsession with celebrity and notoriety, and the lecherous people the entertainment industry attracts because of the obsession to be star kissers. Many of the characters that appear in this film are abhorrent, and it's repulsive to watch them go out of their way to get glory when they really have nothing to offer. It's a very sad scene when Lohman's handlers tell her that she is being sued by her parents whom she has dumped out of her life simply because they want a piece of her pie. But it's difficult to spend two hours watching basically amoral people living such vapid lives. Pitt shows promise as the young desperate kid Buscemi helps out and begins to resent when he finds success in the business. After an hour, I felt very depressed realizing that this is the society we live in and nothing changes but the headlines.