I saw this in Lawrence, KS, where one of the co-writers & principal characters (Laura Kirk/"Lisa Picard") had gone to college. The reviews of it in the Topeka paper made it look interesting; the paper said it was a very small budget production and there were only six copies of the film so I wanted to see it before it moved on to other theaters.
I'm glad we saw it. It's an interesting film, built on the premise that a director is making a documentary of an aspiring actor (Laura Kirk/Lisa Picard) who is just passing the cusp on her way to fame and stardom. Some of the film's questions are, "what does fame/success do to a person -- does it change their walk, talk, the way they behave?" And so this documentary will answer those questions.
This form is called a "mockumentary" -- somewhat in the vein of "Waiting for Guffman" and others. "Slice of life" would also be as appropriate and more accurate for this film in my view. "Waiting for Guffman" was a parody of the community theater scene in which the characters were all as broadly drawn and about as deep as most cartoon figures. While there was a slight tinge of that in "Famous," the characters are more complex, more layered, more fully formed as people.
The actors are excellent in their roles, both major and minor parts. All the roles are psychologically believable and quite realistic. The film is kind, funny, yet still letting us see a layer or two below and beyond surface appearances.
On the way to its conclusion, we get several surprises.
As a view of the lives of aspiring actors trying to break in, it was great. It would have been an even more touching movie if it had allowed us to empathize or identify just a little more with its lead character.
But what talent, in both writing and acting!! We'll see more from these people and they'll be even better.
