Movie 72: Live!

The, well pretty sure it’s the present actually. This is a mockumentary following a studio program director trying to get a Russian Roulette reality show on the air, and the show itself.

What should be a damning black comedy about reality TV, the things people will do for fame and to get on TV, and how heartless networks can be. It falls a bit short of all that for a few reasons.

The good first though. A fair few of the cast members are decent actors. I’m always happy to see Jeffery Dean “Papa Winchester” Morgan in something, though he’s woefully underused here. David “Mr Universe” Krumholtz is generally good, and he has a hefty role in this as the documentary maker. And the shows contestants manage the job of mocking reality to an extent. You have a wannabe actress, a pretentious artist, an extreme sports nut and a few regular types. All bar one, Morgan’s Rick, who are basically up for shooting themselves for pretty shallow reasons.

The show is immensely popular which is also a good bit for what it set out to do, but pretty obvious. And the fact that no one at the network seems bothered about what the consequences are and just worry about ratings and advertisers seems well done.

It’s majorly let down by it’s lead actress though. Eva Mendes doesn’t have the chops to carry something like this. She’s really quite unbelievable in the role of a programme director. Plus the fact that she is so involved in making the show is a misunderstanding of what ones does. She should be a producer if anything. Heads of programming don’t MAKE shows. That’s a niggle I suppose.

The script also thinks it’s smarter than it actually is, with people spouting what should be intelligent dialogue but actually sounds like people saying things they don’t really understand. Like a child laughing at a double entendre because the adults are laughing. I say people, but its mainly Mendes’ character. Not really her failing though, I believe that one sits squarely with the writers. The jump from current reality programming to someone killing themselves on the air isn’t believable either. They go from a Russian show where you have to avoid the police in a stolen car to this. There should have been a more logical progression.

It also left a few questions un-answered for me. This is a bit spoilery so I’ll just say its worth a look but not searching for if you don’t want spoiled.

What happens if the first person shoots themselves in the head? Your shows over. And MORE importantly what happens if you get through the first five contestant and there’s no loser? Does the 6th person HAVE to shoot themselves? If this was my movie I’d have had it get to this point, have the crowd baying for blood and have Mendes come out as the voice of reason (finally) then end with her shooting herself. Shocking ending, much more damning than what actually happens which I won’t bother telling you about.

Short of the mark then, but not too shabby.

Next up: Step Brothers