By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 2 cats
Director: Frank Matter | Robert Margolis
Starring: Frank Krias | Kelli Barnett | Robert Margolis
Country: switzerland, united_states
Year: 2004
Running time: 85
IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309275/combined
Bruce says: “This bleak piece of filmmaking is the story of Robert, an unemployed actor who has been making the rounds in New York for a decade or so. He has a childish optimism that keeps him going in spite of his having a wife and small child to support. He rationalizes spending the rent money on new head shots, which presumably is all he needs to get his foot in the door. Robert has no agent or Equity card. He has to rely on open calls for his auditions. For months (maybe years) he has been working gratis on a play that a friend of his is writing in hopes that when the backers come along he will get chosen for the lead. Although Margolis and Matter try to be funny, this is not comedy, it’s hard core realism.
“As the film opens a group of character actors are all auditioning with the same line. The director is calling them, one by one. During the course of the film we discover that the character actors are really patients in a mental hospital and that the bearded director is none other than Robert who is also a patient. Scenes from the hospital are interspersed throughout the film. Several patients take turns at heavy drama, sometimes successfully sometimes not.
“Robert pays regular visits to the office of Bruce Levy, an agent he once talked to on the phone and who told him to drop by sometime. He is always rebuffed by the insensitive receptionist. As a last resort, Robert ambushes Levy as he gets off the elevator. He forces his way into Levy’s office and finally makes an impression, not a good one needless to say. The play Robert has been working on for months finally gets backers but they drop Robert for a big name actor. Robert does get a big break when he is hired for a Peter Bogdanovich film. When he gets to the set for his first take he freezes and cannot remember a single line. Robert’s wife and child leave him. Ending up in hospital isn’t all that bad.
“New York is filled with scores of people like Robert. Fortunately most of them realize early on that the big break isn’t coming and start to look elsewhere in order to pay the bills. Others fall into different lines of work serendipitously. Watching this film was both embarrassing and painful. Margolis was co-writer, co-editor, co-producer and co-director. THE DEFINITION OF INSANITY fall into the category of loosely disguised autobiography.
“As a character study this film earns some points, but my preference is to learn something in exchange for my viewing time. That was not the case here. 2 cats”
This film was shown as part of the 2004 Woodstock Film Festival