I Love Your Work (2004)
Dear Adam Goldberg;
I know you must get lots of fan
letters but I really cannot help but tell you, I love
your work. I have seen you in many films and always
found you to be an interesting actor. I saw your first
directorial effort, "Scotch and Milk" when you came
to Austin and showed it a few years ago and was really
impressed by it. You have an uncanny ability to take
a story and express it in an interesting and unique
way. Your new film, "I Love Your Work" is no exception.
I know if I met you that we would spend hours talking
about it and you would find me to be just as witty,
eclectic and intelligent as you.
The opening scene of your film starts
us on the journey you are unfolding so perfectly.
It's a beautiful shot of Giovanni Ribisi and plays
into the film- within-a-film context you explore in
"I Love Your Work." It also opens up your discussion
on film vs. reality vs. illusion. The opening five
minutes of the film is simply captivation, carrying
you into the movie and the shot where the title appears
is stunning.
I know you have been a minor celebrity
for several years now. I first noticed you in "Dazed
and Confused," as did most people I assume. But I've
also enjoyed watching you on TV in "Friends" (where
Giovanni also starred for a while) and "The Street."
I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to see "The Hebrew
Hammer" over the Christmas holidays, but your work
in films like "Saving Private Ryan," "Waking Life,"
"A Beautiful Mind" and "The Salton Sea" has been very
impressive as well. The scene in "Private Ryan" where
you confront the captured Nazi soldiers and show them
your Star of David and shout "Yuden" is one of the
most powerful moments in film ever. Truly, your career
has been full of interesting moments.
That's why your placing the film
in the context of a minor star is so captivating.
It is obvious that Ribisi's character Gray Evans is
somewhat autobiographically based on you. The way
that you draw us into Gray's world, the parties, the
drinking and drugs, the hangers-on, the entourage,
the fans, the women... It works so well because you
have been there. You know what you're talking about.
We are taken inside your world. Juxtaposing this with
the harsh, bright light of the papparazzi and the
flashbulbs popping in slow- motion (echoing a drug
induced alternative to reality) is truly amazing.
We feel like we are being taken inside. We suddenly
know the immense paranoia that must come with fame.
And this is incredibly important
to understanding what happens in "I Love Your Work,"
isn't it Mr. Goldberg. The first 45 minutes of your
film are truly a captivating set-up full of wonderful
little flourishes. I love how when everyone calls
Gray's name it sounds like they are saying "Great."
I don't know if you intended this or if it is just
a happy accident but it continues to build upon the
idea that nothing but praise and accolades are heaped
upon young, emerging stars. Watching Ribisi's Great/Gray
try to live his life in this fishbowl, to attempt
to have a real and solid relationship with Franka
Potente's Mia is nothing short of engrossing. Not
only is this due to the amazing acting in the film
but also to the wonderfully crisp and unique filmmaking
that you are engaged in here.
The look of the sets is so important
to the film as it paramount to the way the film is
directed and the way the filmmaking draws us into
an alternative world. The sparse, sleek likes of the
contemporary sets not only show us the amazing modern
opulence of the world we are being allowed to spy
upon but also the harsh sparseness of this world.
Filled with expensive and artistic items, the world
you create is nonetheless empty, void of anything
human. Much like Gray.
Your film is fresh and new while
somehow echoing back to those great movies of the
70's. There's a scene where Ribisi wears a black turtleneck
and he looks not only like New Hollywood but also
somehow reflects those wonderful films from Robert
Evan's 70's Hollywood. Ribisi may look like the new
Steve McQueen here but his performance lets us know
he is nothing short of the new Dustin Hoffman. This
is as much his film as it is yours, Mr. Goldberg.
And since you two have been friends for several years,
I know it was your intention to give Ribisi a chance
to show just how amazing an actor he is. This is,
without a doubt, his best film since he starred opposite
you in "Private Ryan." Perhaps his best performance
since "Lost Highway."
With this film you enter the realm
of Polanski, Antonioni. Of Frankenheimer, Schlesinger,
Altman, Coppola. Your film is complex, intense and
interesting. You never spoonfeed your audience. You
always challenge them. This is a film where the dark
underbelly of celebrity becomes more and more in focus
until, ultimately, it blurs with reality and illusion
and desire and paranoia until the whole system crashes
into chaos and disaster. It's a brilliant film, Mr.
Goldberg.
I know you are dating Christina
Ricci (lucky Girl) and so it was no surprise to see
her in this film. She looks beautiful and oh so real.
The rest of your cast is also amazing. It's no small
testament to the wonderful person you must be that
all these incredible name stars opt to be in your
film. Of course, they also know, like Ribisi, that
they are going to get a chance to really show off
their acting chops and spread their wings. Jason Lee
is amazing playing against type. Then there's Joshua
Jackson, Nicky Katt, Marisa Coughlan, Jared Harris,
and Vince Vaughn. All doing simply wonderful work
here. Hell, even Elvis Costello knows something cool
when he sees it. That's why he does a cameo in "I
Love Your Work."
I suppose there are some stupid
critics out there who are going to lambast how your
film evolves into madness. They are fools. They don't
get you like I do. They don't understand the context
that you are coming from or the descent into darkness
that you are successful in achieving. This is a film
of pure genius, Mr. Goldberg. One of intense filmmaking
skills and a unique knack for taking the viewer into
other realms utilizing a complex understanding of
storytelling and the recent history of filmmaking.
"I Love Your Work" is nothing short of a masterpiece.
Sincerely, your fan,
Lodger
P.S.
We should be together too.
Notes:
Goldberg has a cameo in the film
playing a film director in the film-within-a- film.
His voice is also heard on an answering machine message.
Co-written by Adrian Butchart. Goldberg
wrote much of the amazing score music with Steven
Drozd.
Goldberg produced with 19 other
producers listed in the credits.
Cinematography by Mark Putnam.
When Ribisi is at the video store
and looking at a stack of DVD's one of the films visible
is "The Fan."
The film references the book "Catcher
in the Rye" and the film "Singing in the Rain." A
band in the film is called "The Blow-ups" presumably
in homage to the Antonioni film which is somewhat
emulated here.
The film Mia stars in is called
"The Magic Hour" which is a filmmaking term for a
time when the sunlight is just right for shooting
outdoors.
The film had the Fireworks logo
attached to it although I can find no information
about it being picked up by a distributor on line
or being released theatrically.
The film played at SXSW 2004 with
Goldberg in attendance. He did an intro and a Q&A
with the film. When he introduced it, he told us it
had played in Toronto but we were the first US audience
to see it.
