The starting point of this hilarious short comes from a quote by comedian John Belushi regarding his terrible experience while shooting the comedy/western "Goin' South"
landing one of his first Hollywood films and he was directed by the great Jack Nicholson in his second effort as director (he previously directed "Drive, He Said"). Belushi
hated working on that movie and since not much reasoning was given some curious minds wonder about what really happened on the set. Definitely something went on and the creators
of his fun piece had a great deal of imagination showing a duel between the Oscar winning thespian and the comedy sensation.
In this crazed flight of imagination, we have the typical elements for an epic battle of egos: two great larger than life characters who dominated the Hollywood scene, with
with Nicholson being a true king of cinema in the 1970's and Belushi being the rising star of TV with SNL on full speed. Certainly they had things in common, loved to be the talk
of town and were part of some of the most infamous parties and gatherings of the period but combining such pair to work togethere could be explosive. The makers of this film think
it might have come down to weird things yet with loads of humor.
Jamie Costa gives life to Nicholson in a spectacular fashion. Though he's quite good looking to pass as Jack, he certainly embodies the man with perfection through mannerisms,
facial expression and voice (THE unmistakeable voice!). It wasn't enough for us to see his audition tape as Robin Williams on the set of "Mork and Mindy" a couple of years ago
where he delivered a perfect performance to the point of fans want him to a biopic of Williams (unlikely to happen but we need it), now he adds Nicholson to his gallery. He commands the show while trying to convince Belushi (Sandy Danto) to stay in the movie despite the young actor being
completely unsatisfied with everything to the point he trashes Jack's house and threats his assistants with violence. Nicholson plays with cool and ease with Belushi, finds a
reasonable way to charm the man but a battle will come between them and for the most hilarious possible reason and one that doesn't need to be mentioned here (very valid and I
wonder how many films starring screen legends had that sort of dynamic).
This isn't special just because of actors embodiement of famous figures. It's fun that a great deal of it was made in such a spectacular and believable fashion that one
can easily trust that those events actually happened. It's not made as a trashy spoof of the actors, it feels like a recreation of events that can manage to be slightly serious
but it's mostly fun to watch. The group involved must keep going with those alternative realities, more behind the scenes re-enactments because they sure know how to develop
ideas and situations to the screen without diminishing the real figures or exaggerating things. It's very down to earth with a great of fantasy and metaphors (like the "Kill Bill"
style of fighting between the stars where the house room becomes a different set to present a fight). I was impressed and entertained through the whole thing. 9/10.
