Glam

Inventive cross between 1960s psychedelic film experiments and David Lynch's presentation of multiple realities, this little gem entertains with its tale of young writer Sonny Daye, whose slow-paced, imagination-based creative life in the backwaters of a small town is overwhelmed when he is shipped off to his cousin in L.A. He is met by a fast-talking Franky Syde, who may or may not be the cousin in question, but who instantly looks for a way to market him, L.A.-style. We see the world through Sonny's eyes as he tries to comprehend the flash and chatter of the city by reinterpreting it as new material and dialog for his book. His brief glimpses of Vanessa, mistress of a shady businessman, do much to make up for the marketing imbroglios he's led into by Franky as he's displayed to producers (Lou Cutell), journalists (Ali MacGraw) and druggies (Donal Logue, Jon Cryer). There are good comic bits for all, including what may be Billye Ree Wallace's bubbly last performance as Bobo in the opening scenes. What could have been an incoherent mess is saved by deft pacing and varied comic approaches to sketching the denizens of L.A.

Glam is one of the most original and warped films I've ever seen. Bizarre is another word to describe it. And those words I've just used to describe it, are all in a good way. This little known film is one you should see just once, and you be the judge. Judging this one, from the preview I saw in the late 90's, it's better than I thought it would be. If you can get beyond or under the trashy facade of this film, you'll see the points and realities it's trying to make, in the cutthroat world of Hollywood. Sonny Day (Mcnamara) who weakly spouts one word in the whole of the movie, goes to L.A. to stay with his cousin (Frank Whaley whose performance is truly hypnotic) after granny carks it. Seeing Sonny is a gifted writer, Whaley introduces him to a few Hollywood execs, financiers, one a mobster guy, boxer, and woman beater (Tony Danza). Mcnamara and Whaley's girlfriend (Natasha Gregson Wagner) make a connection, even before he meets her, it woulds seem, just like it's fate. When Danza, you can imagine what happens, but it's not the bloody ending, you imagine it to be. The film has surprisingly, "better than you expect" performances by all, one you'll recognize, being Cryer as a real gay boy. Even Breathless's Valerie Kaprisky pops up in this as Whaley's new ambiguous found love. Ali Macgraw also makes a brief appearance, near the end of the film. Glam is inventive, funny, a little bloody, with a lot of repeated dialogue, line after line, at breakneck pace. I think people fail to realize, the movie harbors the real truth about Hollywood, and how they operate, and if you can see through this, the film really pays off. People sadly just don't see that, thinking of it as just trash, the same way you'd see Fear And Loathing in Las Vegas. The story to Glam has just been told in an ingeniuc if at times, intriguingly annoying way. See it for yourself, Unforgettably beautiful score.

Without doubt among the worst excuses of "entertainment" ever put on film, "Glam" is nothing but a mishmash of non sequential scenes without any apparent story or structure; an incoherent jumble of random scenes that may as well have been lifted from a hundred other dreadful Grade Z movies, and edited together with no "story", no "characters," nothing whatsoever apart from constant barrages of foul language for no apparent reason whatsoever.

Two scenes come to mind. Tony Danza (yep, the nice guy from way back when) manages to repeat a particularly offensive four-letter word (beginning with C and ending with T) perhaps thirty times in three minutes, while at one point Frank Whaley repeats, over and over, again for easily three minutes "I'm Dead... I'm dead... I'm DEAD... I'M DEAD..." Over and over and over, like a broken record, with no apparent rhyme or reason.

I could go on for hours, but suffice to say "Glam" is utter garbage. And if you happen enjoy watching women being beaten for no reason, and if you enjoy listening to abrasive language, seek therapy, but avoid this "movie" at all costs.

It looked like to compensate for an extremely short script, the director had the actors simply repeat each of their lines a half dozen times each. I can't believe I watched the whole thing, it was such an annoying movie. On top of that, I went to check out the DVDs features, and it ends up they swapped the stills of McNamara and Whaley. I've seen the actors in better work, but it's going to be hard to sit down to something by Josh Evans again.

This is a wild, non-linear, challenging and idiosyncratic work. It's totally unique, also frustrating and mind-stopping. Very dark comedy, no-holds barred dig at Hollywood lifestyles and the movie business. Tony Danza does a great cameo-character role -- full marks for the bravery, tho' maybe he didn't know what he was getting into. Director Josh Evans is son of Ali McGraw (who appears in the movie) and Robert Evans, and obviously used his Hollywood connections to make a film that savages the industry. Great super-hyped performance from Frank Whaley. This movie compares more than favorably to the much more widely seen and acclaimed Hurlyburly. Seek it out, and watch more than once.