The Auteur Theory

The Auteur Theory tries hard to be a quietly clever comedy about a self proclaimed "documentary filmmaker" , who believes his work deserves attention and appreciation, and his umpteenth effort to pitch an idea to the snooty bigwigs at the BBC that will open the door to his long delayed stardom and career in filmmaking. Alan Cox plays GEORGE SANDS, the documentary filmmaker, and before he even sits down in front of the snoots, they are ready once again to reject him and send him packing. But he is determined that they should listen to him this time. He had gone to a film festival to shoot a documentary about film festivals when he became "involved in something much much bigger". This movie is not the best of its genre. It's hard even to describe the genre...maybe a comedic mystery. Cox is amusing but Natasha Lyonne, who plays a fellow filmmaker, is really dull and lifeless here. The character's wardrobe seemed interesting, but I have to say her personality was far less colorful. I liked Lyonne better in her other movies. The funniest thing about this film is the films depicted within, the horrible, unintentionally funny student films, especially "The Crap Shoot of Life".