Customer Reviews

Lisa Picard Is Famous

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

 

 

I like Griffin Dunne and found this "mockumentary' style film amusing with good cameo-appearances from Buck Henry, Carrie Fisher, Fisher Stevens recollecting experiences in the fame-game acting world.
As a former actor myself whom gave-up I found this comedy pretty close to the mark and laughed out loud many times.
The blinding ambition, self-delusions and self-absorption true to life.
The focus is little known actress Lisa Picard whose main claim to some fame and notoriety are hilrariously rauchy breakfast cereal commercial whom's next big-break is a bit-part in up-coming telemovie starring Melissa Gilbert called A Call for Help.
Trials and tribulations ensue in the private life of Lisa behind-the-scenes filmed by documentary director Dunne.
The cast parties, TV-VCR premieres in the living-room's, Internet Site and rivalrys between actor friends and off-off Broadway one-man show's really took me back to my own acting days.
Laura Kirk and Nat DeWolf were charming as the two acting friends sprinkled with cameo encounters by Charlie Sheen, Spike Lee, Sandra Bullock, Mira Sorvino, Melissa Gilbert and Penelope Ann Miller.
All the aspirations, dissapointments, setback's, frustrations and large doses of delusions make Lisa Picard is Famous a funny take on what it's mostly like for those trying to play the fame game and break in anyhere/way they can.
Recommended viewing but won't be everybody's choice of a night at home's entertainment.
You really have to of lived it to get it.

I was embarrassed FOR the characters, (NOT the actors)and for myself, to be watching this film. It's that good. A searing, insiders view of life on the audition circuit. The cameos, by Carrie Fisher, Spike Lee, Sandra Bullock, add reality to the film. Nat DeWolfe's one man show in the movie is painfully hilarious to watch. We've all been there. There are flaws, as with any movie, but I very much enjoyed this movie and recommend it to anyone who looks to a film for insight into human nature, and not just for sex and violence.

The show is a hoot, a trainwreck in slow motion. Fun set up as a mockumentary. Griffin Dunne gives us a knowing and askance take on the desperate search for fame. The show belongs to Laura Kirk,an avalanche of talent with a range of skills that puts many notables who make cameo appearances to shame. She is heart rendingly funny, touching and vulnerable. Lisa Pickard is never going to be famous as Ms. Kirk reveals her to us. But there is no reason this gifted performer should stay in the shadows, she is dynamite and worth the price of admission by the end of the audition scene which is 15 minutes into the movie.

I enjoyed the many facets of this movie. There were painful scenes and funny scenes and I really got the sense of how much courage actors have to have to put themselves out there all the time and how much disappointment is a part of acting. The most centered actors in the movie seemed to be the ones not going for the fame that acting can bring, the centered actors seemed to be the ones who was going for the love of their craft.

I love this movie so much - I could watch it over and over (espcecially the scene immediately after the airing of "A Call for Help"). The writing is so smart, poignant, and right on the money for anyone who wants an insider's view of trying to make it as an actor in NY, and also a biting commentary on the commercialism of the movie industry. I am not an actor nor have I ever wanted to be, but I totally get it. Anyone who's got any insight into human behavior probably will. Just thinking about this movie makes me laugh!

Smart, witty people will find this scathing mockumentary about acting and the quest for fame extremely entertaining. It's high on my list of good movies of 2001.

Nothing is more painful than watching a comedy that doesn't work, especially if it's a self-absorbed kind that *thinks* it's funny. I didn't laugh once during this mockumentary. Even if you are a fan of the genre (i.e. did you like "Best in Show" or "Waiting for Guffman"?), I suggest you stay away from this -- it is by far the worst movie I've seen this year.

Being a major Linda Blair fan, when I saw that she was credited with being in this movie I went ahead and purchased it. Bad move. The extent of Blairs performance is a black and white inset photo as Carrie Fisher tells the audience how she is sometimes mistaken for Linda. THAT'S IT !
The movie itself isn't bad, just not the sort of movie one would watch over again, hence negating the need for purchase. The whole movie has an admirable student film feel about it, and has some surprising cameo's, and the performances by the leads are quite good, showing promise.
There are no extra's on the DVD release, and my biggest piece of advice is "Try before you buy". Go out and rent this movie first !