August 2002 Full Frontal

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Reviewed by Wilson Morales Full Frontal Distributor: Miramax Films Director: Steven Soderberg Screenwriter: Coleman Hough Producers: Scott Kramer, Gregory Jacobs Director of Photography: Steven Soderberg Running Time: 106 min Cast: Julia Roberts, Blair Underwood, Catherine Keener, David Hyde Pierce, Nicky Katt, Erika Alexander, David Duchovny, & Mary McCormack What happens when some of the best and popular stars of Hollywood are put in a film together? One expects great things. It’s either a hit or a flop, there is in-between. The script has to written well enough so that each actor can shine in the small or large role they have. John Sayles is one of those directors/screenwriters who can make that happen. Steven Soderberg is another. In fact, his last few films have been good, if not great. Films like “Out of Sight”, The Limey”, “Erin Brockovich”, “Traffic” and “Ocean’s Eleven” has all been well directed and well written. Now, just because he’s on a roll doesn’t mean that everything he touches turns to gold. Billed as the unofficial sequel to “Sex, lies and videotape,” his latest film FULL FRONTAL is a pretentious convoluted film that has no real meaning. Starting out as a movie within a movie, Julie Roberts plays the actress Francesca whose latest role is to play Catherine, a journalist doing a feature on the black actor Nicholas, played by the actor Calvin (Underwood). Carl Bright (Hyde Pierce) is a screenwriter whose day job is working as a writer for Los Angeles Magazine. His marriage to Lee (Keener) seems to be falling apart and he can’t understand why. Lee is a VP of Human Resources at a large firm who takes out her frustrations on her employees in a very unusual way. Her sister Linda (McCormack) works as a masseuse in a hotel who has a future date with someone she met online. Nicky Katt playsan actor whose stage role is playing Hitler. The hotel where Linda works is the settingfor Gus’40th birthday party where all dots are connected. If you’re wondering where all this leads to, then your guess is good as mine. All of the scenes are featured as two-character vignettes, and while some have some powerful scenes, others serve as pieces to an oversize composition. Underwood, who’s rarely seen on the big screen these days, is quite and enchanting as a black actor being interview about his ethnicity and Hollywood. His scenes with Julia are actually worth watching because his scenes are shot in a normal way while the others are shot in a grainy digital way, courtesy of Soderberg. He is clearly looking for the voyeuristic look to get the “full frontal” of the characters’ behavior. Although this is murder mystery, there are “red herrings” that one’s mind off a bit. As mention before, the setting is a film within a film within a film. It’s totally confusing one never knows when the actors (in the movie) are playing themselves or the characters within the film. The level of interest is certainly there with the big names, but the payoff will be less profitable.