Attending the mid-west premier of the independent film Lisa Picard is Famous at Liberty Hall was an experience riddled with questionable motivations. Either you attended the premier because you knew someone involved in the making of the film, (written and stared in by KU alum, Laura Kirk) which would thus make you seem more important then you really are. Or you were there because you wanted to feel like you were a part of something hip and cool, which of course goes hand in hand with wanting to be seen and other such silliness. I attended the premier for two reasons: 1. If I saw the film and wrote a short paper over it I would receive much needed extra credit in my film class. 2. As hard as it is for me to admit, I wanted to go to the premier because I too wanted to feel like a hipster. The reason I mention the motivations for going to the premier of Lisa Picard is Famous is because during the entire film I honestly felt like I was a part of something hip. Fortunately for everyone involved none of the reasons I previously stated had anything to do with this feeling. Lisa Picard is Famous is a fresh and original take on what it is to be famous. It features cameos from some of Hollywood’s biggest names to help promote its point.

Lisa Picard is Famous, directed by long time actor Griffin Dunne, is a film about a documentarian named Andrew (Griffin Dunne) who is shooting a documentary on fame. The documentary centers around a young actress named Lisa Picard, who is pegged by Andrew to be on the verge of fame and stardom. The mock documentary style of this film is reminiscent of works by Christopher Guest such as Best in Show and Waiting for Guffman. The difference between Christopher Guest’s films and Lisa Picard is Famous is that we don’t see the film through the lens of the documentarian’s camera like in Best in Show, but we do see the film through the eyes of someone or something following the making of the documentary. One of the most interesting aspects of this film is getting a glimpse into what it is actually like to make a documentary. We watch as Andrew sits at his Macintosh struggling to decide how he should piece his footage together to portray his subjects, Lisa Picard, and her best friend Tate. It is almost scary to see how easy it is to mold footage of someone into a character that you want them to be. Next time you watch a documentary you should keep in mind that what you are watching is less about the subject matter and more about what the documentarian wants you to get from it.

Although, Lisa Picard is Famous brings a fresh and interesting perspective on fame and the making of documentaries, it is a film that is plagued by a lack of confidence. This becomes most apparent with the films multiple attempts at humor. To be honest the film succeeds in being humorous on many occasions but when it falls short it falls hard. For example, in a scene in which Lisa gets into a heated argument with her friend Tate over whether or not the Emmy Awards should have an acting category for reenactments (take for example a fire safety reenactment where little Timmy plays with matches). Apparently Lisa had a role in some cheesy reenactment and she believes that her work was worthy of an Emmy. The argument is deliberately over the top but it seemed extremely forced and it was just not funny. I understand the joke of having Lisa get all worked up over something as stupid as acting in cheesy reenactments, but this type of humor is horribly trite. Normally I would place the brunt of the blame on the writer for a scene like this. However, due to the fact that this was Laura Kirk’s first film, I will put most of the blame on the director. This scene largely fails because the director does not bring a sense of confidence to it. You get the feeling that the actors are worried that the scene might not be funny and as a result it isn’t.

Griffin Dunne’s lack of confidence as a director rears its ugly head in various other scenes during the movie, including one of the films biggest moments that stars actress Sandra Bullock. In this scene Lisa Picard and her friend Tate run into Bullock at the post office while she is trying to pack some boxes. This scene is supposed to be awkwardly funny but instead its awkwardly bad. The scene goes on and on while Lisa makes copious amounts of awkward comments while the audience has to painfully sit through it. The director should have taken control of this scene, but instead he lets it get tremendously out of hand.

For all of Lisa Picard is Famous shortcomings, the film still manages to be highly enjoyable. One of the film’s high points comes during an interview that Andrew has with Fisher Stevens in which the actor humorously explains how he could not get roles as an American after his brilliant performances as an Indian in the Short Circuit movies. The film also does a masterful job of conveying the heartbreak that actors go through everyday while desperately trying to find roles. The film hits full stride during a scene in which Lisa’s friend Tate has just finished his one-man play and he is standing exposed to the world in nothing more than his underpants as audience members Charlie Sheen and Spike Lee discuss making his play into a movie. Tate wants nothing more than to be respected as an actor and playwright, but the only thoughts that consume Sheen and Lee are how they can take what Tate has created and turn it into something that benefits them. This is a very telling scene of what it must be like to work in an industry that is almost entirely composed of people who are interested in nothing but their own success.

Lisa Picard is Famous is very thought provoking throughout most of the film. Unfortunately the film loses steam and comes to a crashing halt at the end. Instead of leaving it open-ended, Laura Kirk decides to wrap everything up in a nice neat little package. It is almost sickening to see the film spoon-feed its entire message to the audience. I was extremely disappointed at its end. It was a Hollywood ending to a non-Hollywood film, which is inexcusable. Fortunately for Laura Kirk this was her first movie and now that she has it out of the way, she can begin writing films with more maturity and merit. Laura shows a lot of promise as a writer and was in fact able to create a film that was original and hip. Which in the end is really the most important thing, well that and being famous.