Down & Out With the Dolls
Indican Pictures
"Down & Out With the Dolls" is a meritless and exasperating film experience, lacking any insight, drama or humor regarding its subject, the underground music scene. The formation and disintegration of a four-piece all-female band in Portland, Ore., unfolds in scenes so chaotically directed and poorly acted that it's a wonder the movie found its way into cinemas. Looking more like a failed student film than a professional work, the film's release should be brief.
Writer-director Kurt Voss certainly knows the territory, having based much of his film career on the world of rock music. (He co-wrote and co-directed "Sugar Town" and "Border Radio" with his film schoolmate Allison Anders.) What went wrong here is anybody's guess. The acting is either flat or over the top, while scenes meander without firmly establishing character or action.
A local legend -- in her own mind, at least -- Fauna (Zoe Poledouris, who also contributed the movie's so-so score) gets thrown out of her current band when she breaks up with the band's leader. Seizing an opportunity for a quick comeback, she joins the Paper Dolls as lead singer.
The group's other members -- guitarist Kali (Nicole Barrett), bassist Lavender (Melody Moore) and drummer Reggie (Kinnie Starr) -- initially see Fauna as their ticket to acquiring a record deal. But conflicts develop, which cause the Doll House to fall apart quickly. Everything comes to a head in a two-day rave that degenerates into a drunken debauch.
Cameos by real-life rockers flesh out the movie for insiders. But nothing gives the film dramatic spark. Voss favors claustrophobic close-ups of his actors, who appear to improvise much of the film. At least, one hopes no one actually thought this dialogue was worth writing down for actors to memorize. Technical credits are subpar.
"Down & Out With the Dolls" is a meritless and exasperating film experience, lacking any insight, drama or humor regarding its subject, the underground music scene. The formation and disintegration of a four-piece all-female band in Portland, Ore., unfolds in scenes so chaotically directed and poorly acted that it's a wonder the movie found its way into cinemas. Looking more like a failed student film than a professional work, the film's release should be brief.
Writer-director Kurt Voss certainly knows the territory, having based much of his film career on the world of rock music. (He co-wrote and co-directed "Sugar Town" and "Border Radio" with his film schoolmate Allison Anders.) What went wrong here is anybody's guess. The acting is either flat or over the top, while scenes meander without firmly establishing character or action.
A local legend -- in her own mind, at least -- Fauna (Zoe Poledouris, who also contributed the movie's so-so score) gets thrown out of her current band when she breaks up with the band's leader. Seizing an opportunity for a quick comeback, she joins the Paper Dolls as lead singer.
The group's other members -- guitarist Kali (Nicole Barrett), bassist Lavender (Melody Moore) and drummer Reggie (Kinnie Starr) -- initially see Fauna as their ticket to acquiring a record deal. But conflicts develop, which cause the Doll House to fall apart quickly. Everything comes to a head in a two-day rave that degenerates into a drunken debauch.
Cameos by real-life rockers flesh out the movie for insiders. But nothing gives the film dramatic spark. Voss favors claustrophobic close-ups of his actors, who appear to improvise much of the film. At least, one hopes no one actually thought this dialogue was worth writing down for actors to memorize. Technical credits are subpar.
- 3/21/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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