Rosanna Arquette Movie:

Sugar Town Reviews:
the city of angels has devils too
2001-03-22 - This is like a low-key version of Robert Altman's Short Cuts but without the ironies of Raymond Carver's writing or the brilliance of Altman's direction. Here writer/directors Allison Anders and Kurt Voss present a mosaic of groupings all associated somehow with the members of a British 80's rock band on the comeback trail. If there is a common theme it's probably that Los Angelonos are all manipulative and celebrity seekers. There is no apparent diivision of tone that would explain having two directors, and since it is the female actors that make the stronger impression, it's hard to know which one to congratulate. As the milieu is the music industry, the soundtrack can be justified, though occasionally it's obtrusive - you tend to look to see if someone has a radio on during their conversation to explain the noise. And in one instance some discordant sounds work against the truth of the confession of a rape. There is the odd funny line - a tight dress is described as a "glove", and a songwriter says how the music has to come from somewhere, it's not just waste (the actual word he uses is profane). The narrative provides one act of callousness which approximates the tragedies of Short Cuts, but there is no wrap-up to connect the scenarios for a satisfying conclusion. Anders/Voss provide an amusing cut from an implied blowjob to a carrot stick in a de-juicer, a laugh when a prodigal child raised by a hippie resembles a gothic alien, and a woman checking her makeup as a deliberate strategy to avoid seeing a couple embrace. A plot point about a man refusing to sleep with Beverly D'Angelo seems silly considering how beautiful she looks, and her cynical rich lady is probably the best performance in the film. This film was made after Ally Sheedy's career reinvention in High Art, and she is funny in her self-consciousness when dating. She can survive being imitated by another character, partly because the imitator is the one who commits the act of callousness, though her first scene on a massage table isn't the best introduction. Rosanna Arquette has some nice moments as a possibly cuckolded wife (her response to the hippie is funny), but her brother Richmond Arquette is all hunky method-shoulders and deep voice.

Great Independent Film
2000-08-07 - This film features an excellent cast of known and relatively unkown stars. All give great performances in this movie and is for fans of independent films. If you liked films such as "Pulp Fiction," and "2 Days in the Valley," you'll enjoy this one.