The Big Picture

This film is a wonderful example of how to get a movie made in Hollywood.

Kevin Bacon stars as a hot new director, with a prestigious award to his credit who has one aim, to make his script his way.

What then ensues is a sequence of events that should serve as a warning to people wanting to make their own movie on what to be careful of.

Bacon's script starts as a simple movie of two couples on holiday together, while one half of them is having an affair, thanks to various obstacles it transforms into a trashy affair of beaches, cheerleaders and very little story, called Beachnuts.

While this happens Bacon's personal life is also falling apart thanks to the lures of Teri Hatcher's struggling young actress.

Finally, an extremely low-budget music video puts Bacon back on the map and this time he sticks to his guns.

The message for young movie-makers is, do not lose sight of what you want and be aware of the extreme fickleness of Hollywood, which this demonstrates exceedingly well.

After a film student from Ohio (Bacon) wins an award for his short movie at the film institute in Los Angeles, he has to carefully traverse the minefield of the system to get his artistic vision made. JT Walsh plays a manipulative producer and Martin Short a dubious agent.

"The Big Picture" (1989) is an amusing look at the moviemaking process in Hollywood. The humor is mostly droll or quirky and viewers not up on the business might not relate to some of it, which could explain why the flick flopped at the box office. I wouldn't want to blow time & money on seeing it at the theater, but it works well enough for home viewing on a quiet night or whatever.

Winsome Emily Longstreth stands out on the feminine front as the protagonist's girlfriend, Susan. She was a minor female sensation at the time who worked with the likes of Johnny Depp, Brad Pitt, Rob Morrow, Molly Ringwald and James Spader, but she left acting entirely by the early 90s, reportedly falling into substance abuse, mental illness, and living in homeless shelters. It's rumored she died in early 2015, but factual info is hard to find so I can't verify this.

Teri Hatcher is notable as wannabe starlet Gretchen; it was her movie debut. Meanwhile Jennifer Jason Leigh is on hand as hipster Lydia while Fran Drescher shows up as the producer's wife, Polo.

The film runs 1 hour, 40 minutes, and was shot in the Los Angeles area.

GRADE: B-

I've watched this many times, and feel that this ranks with the best work of Christopher Guest. Kevin Bacon is outstanding as the idealistic young director Nick Chapman, who falls prey to the jaded Hollywood lifestyle - long before he can afford it personally or financially. Martin Short's role as Nick's agent is hilarious, and other good performances are turned in by Jennifer Jason Leigh, Terri Hatcher, and many others. This is Spinal Tap for the film industry, and well worth a look.

This is an under-rated late 80's film that captures the changing entertainment scene of that decade, with much humor and irony.

While the usual "Hollywood is phony" theme exists here, that story is always interesting, and it really scores when it reminds us of how success can be gained and lost quickly.

Martin Short is the uncredited star here, with a couple of hilarious scenes, the best one at the outdoor patio restaurant where he praises Bacon without knowing any of his work. All in all, a nice movie about movies, with some special surprise locations for movie buffs!

The late J.T. Walsh offers a subtle performance here, with one of my favorite (perhaps a somewhat spoiler line, but nothing to do with the plot)...Bacon: "I'm from Ohio", with Walsh's comeback, "my first wife is from Illinois", as in everything outside of LA is one place. Perfect deadpan humor.

This is a good film that is totally stolen by Martin Short. The scenes including his agent character are some of the funniest I've ever seen in a movie. He's absolutely brilliant.

If you can see past the blinding light of Short's performance, there's a likable movie here. Kevin Bacon and his character's storyline are compelling and involving. There are loads of funny cameo-type roles. There's one scene in particular that stands out. It's not funny, it's heartbreaking. I'm talking about the scene where Kevin Bacon picks up Michael McKean in his Porsche, gets a cell phone call, and asks McKean to step out of the car to take the call. Man, that's harsh. It's testament to Bacon's acting charm that his character can be redeemed at all after a stunt like that.

The one thing that seemed consistently not to work here is the fantasy sequences. The movie would play better without them.