Enemies of Laughter

After having seen him in "Quiz Show" and many other interesting performances, it was a change to see him in this comedic satire about the Hollywood film industry. Judge Reinhold is a fictitious director, making a documentary about Paymer's character.

Look for Peter Falk and Bea Arthur as Paymer's parents, commenting dryly on his career as an actor. Marilu Henner is also amusing, as well as Rosalind Cho. The film is a sort of "non-reality satire of reality"; the self-aggrandizement and facades of living and working in the Hollywood community.

There is also a brief cameo with Billy Hayes (writer of "Midnight Express") who laughingly says he would rather be in a Turkish prison again, than watch Paymer on stage. There are also a few amusing scenes with pretentious producers, quirky actors, and self-absorbed writers.

If you like this movie, you may also enjoy "Swimming with Sharks", starring Kevin Spacey and Frank Whaley. It is always nice to see Hollywood poke fun at its pretentiousness, when the humor is intelligent and telling. 9/10.

Joey Travolta has proved he is a great director with this gem of a film! A wonderful cast. A witty script. This film is engaging from start to finish. This is one of those films you will be telling your friends to watch. I really enjoyed it. Joey is supposed to be directing a film about the life of movie star, Sal Mineo. Well, this film proves he would do an outstanding job making a movie about Mineo. I truly hope investors see this film. They should be lining up around the block to get the Mineo film made. I own Sal Mineo's website and am convinced after seeing this film, Joey Travolta shoud make the movie about Sal Mineo.