Customer Reviews

Jimmy Hollywood [Blu-ray]

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Director Barry Levinson("Rain Man"),brings us this quirky comedy of life in the not so glamorous side of Hollywood. Joe Pesci plays Jimmy Alto, "Actor Extraordinaire". He knows it, his pal William(Christian Slater) knows it, it even says that exact thing on the bus stop ad he has invested in(using his girlfriend's money). Alas no one else in Hollywood has seemed to discover this brillant acting talent yet!

It seems the criminal element in his neighborhood make a much better living stealing car radios and such, then he does. When his girlfriend(Victoria Abril) is mugged and Jimmy's car is broken into("Why does anyone bother rolling up their windows, ya just have to pay to fix em when they rob your radio?"),Jimmy and William, who's a little on the slow side, decide to start video taping the criminals and turning them over to the police.And not just the tapes, the perps are delivered as well.This action turns into the biggest break in Jimmy's career he could ever hope for.

The police assume that some big time vigalante group is responsible for these actions, and Jimmy seeing at as the role of a lifetime makes himself over as "Jericho" the leader of this group, and really gets into "method acting".He's thrilled as he see's himself(in disguise) on all the news shows. He's finally got some attention! Pretty soon the police and the criminals are after "Jericho" and Jimmy must decide on an ending for this story.It's all very "Hollywood" right up to the end,and you should at least stay for the beginning of the credits as there are some great surprise cameos.

Joe Pesci is marvelous as the stuggling actor who is enthralled with the great movie stars of the past. Christian Slater plays the spacey William perfectly, and Victoria Abril has a great chemistry with Pesci and is wonderful as the girlfriend who can only sit back and say in her delightful Spanish accent"Are you out of your mind?!"

The film is alot of fun, the musical soundtrack is great, and the VHS has a nice picture and sounds terrifc in the Hi-Fi Stereo. I would even say 4 and 1/2 stars if the film hadn't been "formatted to fit your screen", but still very much worth the view.

If you've ever had a dream..this film is for you....Laurie

I saw this film when i was 15, and wow it is well played, great story line, just got the DVD a couple of weeks ago. The dude from home alone is awsome, why cant they make films like this today!!

This movie was awesome. I loved it. I saw it at around one o' clock this morning and I'm buying it off of Amazon now. It was creative and clever with a Tarantino-type of nonsensical flow. The way everyone talked...it was great. The jokes were funny and the people were real in their own weird way. The characters were all unique and lovable and it was nice how amiable most of the people were. No one really got mad at each other. Anyway, if you haven't seen this movie, you should, and if you have, you should see it again. It's awesome.

Joe Pesci plays Jimmy Alto, an Average Joe from New Jersey who came to Hollywood to become a star. But Golden Age Hollywood is no more. Instead of glamour, Jimmy found a seedy town. Instead of fame, he's become one of thousands of unemployed actors.

It's an old story, but enjoyable to anyone who's shared Jimmy's dream. Probably less so for anyone who doesn't much care about "behind the scenes" Hollywood.

Then Jimmy Alto (aka Jimmy Hollywood to his buddies back in New Jersey) captures the thief who stole his car radio and dumps him off at police hq -- anonymously. When this inadvertantly makes him a vigalante celebrity, he decides he's found his "role of a lifetime." He continues his vigalantism, upsetting police and criminals alike, while to him it's merely a "role," and the cheering citizens, his "audience."

A bit overlong, and it hits some very old observations on Hollywood past and present, but not a bad film. Spanish actress Victoria Abril is delightful as his girlfriend with dreams of becoming a "hairdresser to the stars."

6/04/05 Comcast Cable 's HBO Channel's repay of this movie was a true "due" for all the replays of bad movies that they rerun.."Jimmy Hollywood" starring Joe Pesci,Christian Slater and Victoria Arril had something few movies have "No anti-climax"..As he(Jooe Pesci) repeats his rehearsal lines before facing the hyped police outside the California Egyptian Theatre,who are looking forward with "press /media prompting" to confront "Jerico"of the SOS membership a/k/a Jimmy Alto(the actor),who never got the break of a Brando or Cagney.. vs attending to "crime in the streets" etc. he keeps repeating the Lines "What You Going to Kill Me, Everybody dies"... In this time before the confrontation due to portable TV, he sees "fans" like he would want for the 1st time .Fortunately his friends played by actor Christian Slater(who had to delay his fugitive run from the city to keep his appointment for the 17th of the month "MRI")leaves the California Egyptian theatre,and his girlfriend Lorraine (played by Victoria Avril) lets the police know that "the actor Jimmy Alto" gun contained only blank..Thus 150 police don't shot at him as he leaves the Egyptian theatre.The movie's ending is the "stuff that kept the movie industry surviving strongly for so long".

An aluminum siding salesman Jimmy Alto (Joe Pesci) moves to Hollywood to become an actor. He even rents an ad on a bench. He even comes close a few times to getting a part.

The one time he leaves his radio in his car it is misappropriated leaving a broken window in the process. Jimmy upset decides to film the perpetrator in the act. He enlists the help of his forgetful buddy William (Christian Slater). His successes with the operation and the 56 second spot on the news, makes him realize that this is "Acting". His friend signed a note to the police with the initials SOS, thus starting the invention of an organization called "Save Our Streets.

Every thing starts to snowball from here. The police thing they are up against another SLA. The people think it is another Charles Bronson. William does not think. Jimmy thinks he is acting. And Jimmy's on and off girl Lorraine (Victoria Abril) thinks he is for real ad does not know it.

What do you think?

Joe Pesci stars in this movie as Jimmy Alto an unemployed actor living in L.A. who's originally from New Jersey. Jimmy spends his time like a lot of actors in L.A., auditioning for roles, sitting around watching movies, and sunbathing by a pool. Jimmy dreams of making it big. However, the Hollywood he dreamed of no longer exists. All the greats are gone and the famous locations of old are run down. One day after Jimmy has his car stereo stolen he enlists his mentally challenged friend (Christian Slater) to help find the thief and video tape the crook as he commits a crime. They do so and end up binding and gagging the crook and dropping him off at the police department. From there, the S.O.S. is born and Jimmy decides to take on the role as "Jeremiah" leader of the S.O.S.

Overall I enjoyed the movie. At times it moved rather slow. The pieces of Hollywood trivia strung throughout are amusing. In some ways, the film felt like a modern SUNSET BOULEVARD with two guys and a comic ending.

A wonderful story of friendship and love; well acted. Unexpected twists and turns with a delightful ending. I reall enjoyed the movie and storyline.

Barry Levinson's comedy/drama about an actor-turned-Hollywood crimefighter (Joe Pesci), his skeptical lover (Victoria Abril in a rare English-language performance)and his addled but adoring young friend (Christian Slater) was a fast flop in the spring of 1994-perhaps due to the public's lack of interest in seeing a film about a "loser" eager for a chance to become a "legendary" star like Errol Flynn and live the glittering Hollywood lifestyle (with a home in fashionable West L.A.) and his frustration over that lifestyle remaining forever beyond his reach. In the 10 years since JIMMY HOLLYWOOD's release, the advent of both the Internet and the glut of reality television series make Levinson's tale of an ordinary man thrust into a sort of fast-food version of stardom more relevant than ever.

I was Pesci's stand-in on the film, so my opinion isn't completely objective. But I do believe that Barry Levinson is noteworthy for treating audiences with intelligence and respect. And I believe that JIMMY HOLLYWOOD, underrated and largely unseen over the past nine years, deserves to be rediscovered and re-evaluated on its DVD release.

I'm presuming that this is a bare bones DVD. But some interesting outtakes should exist somewhere-including a scene of Pesci and Slater singing a Leonard Cohen song called "Democracy".

Terry McCarty

Im a fan of Barry Levinson movies and this film keeps in the directors' comedic tradition. Say what you want, I know it didn't win any awards and got mediocre reviews but this movie is HILARIOUS! If you sit and watch it you will see its easily Joe Pesci's funniest film!! It has a realistic plot, action and many hilarious lines. I was excited to see this on Blu ray!!