Garmento
Spanish Moss Prods.
NEW YORK -- Demonstrating more of an insider's knowledge of the fashion industry than filmmaking expertise, this shaky satire set in New York's garment district is consistently undone by an inconsistency of tone and less-than-assured directing and acting.
Previously showcased at the SXSW and Hollywood film festivals, "Garmento" is playing an exclusive theatrical engagement at New York's Village East Cinemas.
Writer-director Michele Maher spent several years working in the garment industry, and her debut feature displays more than a few personal details that give the film needed texture. Unfortunately, the story line, which uneasily combines comedy with melodrama, fails to sustain interest. The central character is Grindy Malone (Katie MacNichol), a naive young woman who lands a job as an assistant to Ronnie Grossman (David Thornton), the president of a fashion design label. The label, Poncho Ramirez Inc., is in danger of bankruptcy thanks to such questionable products as men's underwear with hugely padded cups.
When a competing company, Romeo Jeans, led by a shady former business partner (Jerry Grossman) of Ronnie's father, proposes a merger, Ronnie reluctantly agrees. The resulting product, PR Jeans, promoted with a sexually exploitative ad campaign that recalls Calvin Klein's use of teen models in the '70s, is a smash success. So much so that the company is unable to keep up with the demand, and Ronnie, desperate for an IPO, resorts to illegal methods to stay in business.
While the film's stereotypical characters, including the egomaniacal fashion designer (Juan Hernandez) and his gratingly shrill Italian business partner (Saundra Santiago), provide some knowing laughs, the film doesn't take full advantage of its subject matter's opportunities for humor, and its attempts at seriousness generally fall flat. The schematic characterizations, flat dialogue and choppy narrative style are further detriments, and the cast of skilled New York theater performers generally don't seem to know whether to pitch their performances more in the direction of parody or seriousness. The result is far too uneven to be successful, though "Garmento", shot on location in New York's garment district, should at least provide some chuckles to those in the business.
NEW YORK -- Demonstrating more of an insider's knowledge of the fashion industry than filmmaking expertise, this shaky satire set in New York's garment district is consistently undone by an inconsistency of tone and less-than-assured directing and acting.
Previously showcased at the SXSW and Hollywood film festivals, "Garmento" is playing an exclusive theatrical engagement at New York's Village East Cinemas.
Writer-director Michele Maher spent several years working in the garment industry, and her debut feature displays more than a few personal details that give the film needed texture. Unfortunately, the story line, which uneasily combines comedy with melodrama, fails to sustain interest. The central character is Grindy Malone (Katie MacNichol), a naive young woman who lands a job as an assistant to Ronnie Grossman (David Thornton), the president of a fashion design label. The label, Poncho Ramirez Inc., is in danger of bankruptcy thanks to such questionable products as men's underwear with hugely padded cups.
When a competing company, Romeo Jeans, led by a shady former business partner (Jerry Grossman) of Ronnie's father, proposes a merger, Ronnie reluctantly agrees. The resulting product, PR Jeans, promoted with a sexually exploitative ad campaign that recalls Calvin Klein's use of teen models in the '70s, is a smash success. So much so that the company is unable to keep up with the demand, and Ronnie, desperate for an IPO, resorts to illegal methods to stay in business.
While the film's stereotypical characters, including the egomaniacal fashion designer (Juan Hernandez) and his gratingly shrill Italian business partner (Saundra Santiago), provide some knowing laughs, the film doesn't take full advantage of its subject matter's opportunities for humor, and its attempts at seriousness generally fall flat. The schematic characterizations, flat dialogue and choppy narrative style are further detriments, and the cast of skilled New York theater performers generally don't seem to know whether to pitch their performances more in the direction of parody or seriousness. The result is far too uneven to be successful, though "Garmento", shot on location in New York's garment district, should at least provide some chuckles to those in the business.
- 7/7/2003
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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