TxMike This is a quirky, spoofy look at actors trying to make it, yet still having to work to make rent. This one works as a waiter. The writer- director managed to get a large number of talented "name" actors, some with fairly brief parts, to appear in this. It is just a fun viewing. I found it on Netflix streaming movies.My sole reason for seeing it was for Daniel von Bargen, who died way too young last year. I knew Dan in college, we both were in a long running student musical at Purdue in 1969. He was an actor, I became a Scientist. He has a role here auditioning actors for a movie, the whole scene at about 90 minutes into the movie is only 4 minutes long but it is a good glimpse of von Bargen.The nominal star is Matthew Modine as Joe. He and his long-time girlfriend, Catherine Keener as Mary, share an apartment in Manhattan. She works as a makeup artist, mostly for advertising photo shoots, he is a mostly out-of-work actor who pays bills with a job as a waiter for special events.I enjoyed it.

ltlacey To start off, this movie was not as bland as some have written. It's actually a fairly decent movie about relationships and how losing, or gaining, them affects our daily lives. The movie starts out with an elderly lady walking her dog which then gets stolen and she's crying out for her Buddy. The woman and her dog are a relationship, as throughout this movie we see her now and then watching TV (more relationships, if only fleeting) and it's obvious she is all alone and all she had was her dog. The main relationship in the movie is between Joe and Mary. They have been together for 6 years and are experiencing issues. The 2 actors worked well together and actually this was one of the better performances I have seen from both actors. I liked how Joe and Mary worked out their issues and knew when to back off. Then we have fringe relationships and shallow characters who only want one thing. In one case, the woman must be a real blonde (hence the title), and in the other, the character, played by Hannah, just wants sex. Another surprise was Denis Leary in the film and his character as the teacher of a self-defense and self-esteem class for women. All in all, everyone portrayed a character that was real and with plausible lives.

Honkon The best thing about this film is the acting - an astonishingly stellar cast most of whom are content to play very minor roles in the most understated way with no hint of showing off. A testament to the pulling power of a respected director instead of the usual Hollywood hacks perhaps. Catherine Keener is magnificent as always - see "Malkovich" and then this for an example of what acting is all about. Elizabeth Berkeley even gets a chance to show that once out of the clutches of Verhoeven she can actually act.After de Cillo's Bunuel-esque flourishes in "Living in Oblivion" this quiet little comedy about artifice, authenticity and relationships was perhaps a slight disappointment, however this is no doubt due to approaching it with preconceptions. It's a quality piece of work throughout, an affectionate satire of the entertainment business, and a cautionary tale about not giving up what you need to get what you want. I liked it.

Stealth-5 I hired the real blonde because i wanted to check out one of my good actors Elizabeth Berkley. she basically had a fairly small role in the film,and displayed a dull emotion throughout the whole film,the real blonde was not funny at all,it was a joke really,only a few scenes which actually were funny worked out,it has a great cast though,but all the cast didn't seem so open or alive,especially Kathleen Turner.Altogether the film wasn't too watchy....5.3 out of 10 C-