Living in Oblivion

A movie director and his leading lady feel the pressure as their shoot teeters on the edge of disaster ...

Witty and big-hearted satire of the process of making an independent movie. This comes in three parts, each act dealing with a particular scene and bringing a change of emphasis. The story is almost perfectly self-contained, with unity of action, place and time, and the writing and editing keeps it clipping along at a good pace. The writer/director uses the full potential of his set up by bringing in a host of characters and a range of technical aspects of the shoot, and yet wraps it up nicely through the romantic concerns of his creations.

Performances are good all round, and some real insights are delivered - the objection to dwarfs in dream sequences, the most self-obsessed person in the room coming up with the best idea (the blocking for the "admired from afar" scene). It's not a laugh a minute, but there are plenty of good moments.

The only time I noticed the music was when the director was giving a pep talk to one of the actors. Maybe there could have been more jokes on that "score" - or maybe I missed them.

Overall: Not a classic, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Indie director Tom DiCillo has produced a small (as yet) body of work, but has shown consistent flair for making movies which exude great affection for his characters. This affection is contagious; the actors seem to relish their roles and in turn many viewers will share the enjoyment.

Indie stalwarts Steve Buscemi and Catherine Keener (who's graced four DiCillo movies) shine as director and actress on a trouble laden indie shoot. Keener does a virtuoso turn in a scene calling for her to perform the same take over and over, each time with less and less conviction.

"A Box of Moonlight" and "Real Blonde" while having comic sides to them, also have much depth. "Living in Oblivion" is an outright comedy; it's lightweight, but very funny.

This is one of my favorite movies and it aggravates me that it's the kind of movie that always seems to slip through the cracks. In other words, nobody watched it. It's hilariously funny and yet the public in general don't either get it or find it funny. I not only laughed a lot but found the acting to be excellent. Buscemi's performance of a Indi' film director going through the rigors of dealing with inept film crew, egotistical actor's, in-crew relationships and not to mention a certain dwarf with a major chip on his shoulder. If you are a film buff and know a little more than most about movie's rent it. 10 out of 9

"Living in Oblivion" is one of your video store's coolest secrets. Writer-director Tom Dicillo takes a satiric look at independent films while capturing the ups and downs of making a movie. For the cast and crew of the film within this film, the downs hilariously outnumber the ups.

Steve Buscemi shines in an all-too-rare lead role as the frustrated director. There's also great work by James LeGros as the pompous leading man, Catherine Keener as the insecure leading lady, and Dermot Mulroney as the broken-hearted cinematographer.

Dicillo is especially concerned with the nightmares and daydreams of his characters, and rightly adopts a dreamy visual style that shifts between black and white and color.

It all adds up to an uncommonly intelligent, artistic, and funny(!) comedy that deserves your attention.

Funny, absorbing and smart movie about a no-budget film and the people trying to make it. The movie plays around with reality and dreams without getting too obscure or serious. It's well-done, well-acted (one of those rare movies where the entire cast is great), very funny and very smart. Naturally, this bombed...it was TOO intelligent for mainstream audiences and how do you market a film like this. But it plays on IFC all the time and it's basically one of the best films of its year and one of the best on the art of films and filmmaking. If you even slightly like movies, you have to see this. Don't miss it!