McConaugheMay Day 29: Welcome to Hollywood

Pretty middling little Hollywood satire about a A Star being Created, but with the added benefit of 30-ish very famous people responding to the question “What makes a Star?” interspersed throughout. This is a film that’s confusing to talk about because it doesn’t really work as a film or a narrative outside of its own existence. In the simplest terms, it’s about the director trying to prove that you can simply manufacture fame, and the meta-narrative that that full-proof plan is ruined by the natural ego that a performer would get from being on that journey. It never really coalesces into a film that is obviously in on the joke or exists as a sincere prank on Hollywood; the type of project made one million times better by the likes of Christopher Guest or Eric Andre. In Welcome to Hollywood, none of the jokes are particularly cutting, none of the central trio’s performances, even as poor performers, are very engaging or interesting.

This is the kind of movie that is much funnier to talk about making with your friends then actually make. The one bright spot to be found here is the concept of heading to the Cannes film festival and being unable to get in even as your film project requires it. Reminds me a bit of Eric Andre’s segment about visiting the Republican National Convention and having to largely limit himself to bothering people outside of it because he wasn’t allowed inside. Limitations can be a boon for creativity in some cases, but here it feels like the filmmakers weren’t sure how to best make use of them. There are likely hundreds of movies like this that many people will never see simply because no one wants to discuss them—failed projects that had the ambition but to succeed but not the craft to make it possible.

Naturally, I watched this because Matthew McConaughey is technically in this as one of the 3 or so famous people that seem to have been told what the film is actually about rather than believing that they’re just responding to an open-ended interview question. He likes the fake lead’s name (Nick Decker) which, in fairness, does sound like a name that McConaughey would sincerely like.

I watched this on a plane so I was not able to look up information on why Adam Rifkin’s name sounded vaguely familiar or if half the celebs in this knew this movie even came out when it eventually did. It’s fun to not know things. I think ignorance should make a comeback. Not the confidence of someone who doesn’t Know but THINKS he does, but the confidence of KNOWing what you don’t know, knowing that you WILL never know, and knowing that it won’t make one hoot of a difference in your life. Greenlights. Alright alright alright.