The Independent (2000)

I can think of no one more perfect to play the spirit of Independent filmmakers that Jerry Stiller. I’m not talking about independents like the Coen Brothers or even Abel Ferrara. No, I mean like Russ Meyer, Herschell Gordon Lewis, Sam Fuller and all those great exploitation directors that roamed throughout America hocking their wares in the 60’s and 70’s.

Stiller plays Morty Fineman, a man responsible for over 400 films in the past few decades. Even though we are in the year 2000, Morty is still cranking them out, desperately squeaking by financially, often getting trapped by his debts. Morty’s oeuvre includes such classics as “Heil Titler,” “The Man With Two Things,” “Nanny Hooter’s Hootenanny,” “S.E.X. That Spells Sex” and many other fine classic films. Currently Morty is trying to get a film called “Nurse Kevorkian” off the ground but he’s having a bit of financial trouble.

Stiller is simply fabulous as Fineman. Yes, he doesn’t really break any new ground; He’s still Jerry Stiller, but he’s a more energetic, less bitchy Stiller. He’s fun to be around and you grow to love his spirit and his never-ending stamina. It’s easy to picture Stiller as one of these granddaddies of exploitation films. He fits the character perfectly.

The cast of supporters in this flick is phenomenal as well. Janeanne Garofalo as Morty’s daughter Paloma embodies the spirit of a child grown yet still hungry for her father’s affection. It’s great to see Garofalo and Stiller together. It works. Perhaps because they have history with Garofalo having dated Jerry’s son Ben. Max Perlich continues his trajectory of playing supporting characters that are man/boys on the verge of a delayed adulthood. Mirroring the love and respect we begin to feel for Morty, Perlich allows us to understand how easy it is to fall under the older man’s spell. As for the minor characters, there is a plethora of familiar faces. Ben Stiller, porno actress Ginger Lynn Allen, Richard Paul, Anne Merra, Johnny Rotten (using the name Lydon here), are some of the names. The faces appear in almost every scene. It’s a great film full of wonderful cameos.

But the best are the real life directors who do faux interview segments about Morty. Ron Howard, Roger Corman and Peter Bogdonavich all have wonderful films to tell about the maven. It adds just the right amount of humor and verisimilitude to the proceedings.

Of course, there are some things that remain problematic with the film. Some of it doesn’t work. The segments with Merra, as Marty’s ex-wife, are just silly and unbelievable. They distract from the cohesion of the film. And the film itself often looses its way. There should be a better story to tell about Morty than the one we get here. And finally, a glut of these films seem to be hitting us right now. There is some interest in these campy old gems of exploitation, but hardly anybody really wants to sit through the old films. Also, many of them are lost or in bad shape. So instead, we get either documentaries about these old filmmakers or these made up films paying homage to these marvels of history, these B-movie Gods. Films like “Ed Wood” and “Matinee” have a much stronger audience than any film made by Wood or William Castle. Still, isn’t there someone whose story deserves a biopic more than this made-up version of one?

The film ends with it’s funniest bit. At the end credits, a list of Morty Fineman’s 400+ films scrolls on the screen, evoking laughter in spatches from the audience as each reads an amusing one here and there; They run to fast to be read at one sitting. The filmmaker’s have come up with a marketing ploy utilizing this for the film. A webpage at http:\\www.finemanfilms.com doesn’t talk about the film “The Independent.” Instead it’s a fan page for Marty. All of his more than 400 films are listed there. You can even write a review for one of these. See if you can find mine.

Report Card

Script: B-

Acting: A-

Cinematography\Lighting: B-

Special Effects\Make Up: A+

Music: C

Final Grade: B+