busker

Perils of self-delusion

"He didn't direct it: he just OK'd the budget"

I'd intended to rent some macho DVD of manly derring-do but as soon as I entered Silver Screen, all self-delusion vanished.

The place was a casting director's dream of clichéd togetherness: family ensembles with their 'March of Penguins'; Hunks with their chicks; Hunks with their hunks; Tweenie temptresses with frowning fathers; Mrs Robinsons searching out the perfect après-nosh movie.

I thought I'd go with something French and suitably louche  but spotted the intriguingly titled Second Best including the underplayer's underplayer, Joe Pantoliano.

I say 'including' because it's so pitch perfect and well cast that I forgot it was a movie and took everyone for the characters they portray.

Living a third-best life myself, and this brilliant movie encapsulating everything I know and breathe, I'm not the best audience to describe what it's actually about:

• The official synopsis describes it as following the sulky fortunes of failed publishing executive Elliot Kelman (stunning performance by Joe Pantoliano) relying on hand-outs from his mother, son, and ex-wife (the delicious Polly Draper).
• Elliot (splendid loser's name) meets sexy Carole (with an 'e' - wonderful Jennifer Tilly) and his newsletter begins to find an audience.
• Things start looking up for Elliott - until the return home of his oldest friend Richard (Boyd Gaines as a 'fascinatingly successful melancholy' movie producer).
• Elliot’s feelings of inadequacy and squandered potential zoom to the surface and there is a splendidly painful scene in a posh restaurant as E reads his latest pamphlet to his silent squirming buddies.
• In fact, Elliot's single-page rants - 'Confessions of a Loser'; 'Loser Rationale'; 'The Loser and His Rivals';, and that ilk - carry 100% convinction and are a tribute to Weber's sure-penned observations.
• I'd intended to watch a bit, write to my mum, watch a bit more, cook dinner, watch more, grapple with a Dowland lute piece - but sat mesmerized from the first frame and right through the whole clever painful experience.

Casting: Intriguing cameos by super-model, Paulina Porizkova, *and* Patricia Hearst (Patty H of 'Tania' fame) for whom I have a soft spot, having promoted the UK edition of her story and met all sorts of underground toughies as a result.

Special Features Commentary: Pantoliano and Weber's over-movie chatter is a gem of relaxed rambled kibitzing, although from an early comment, I got the impression that they both think that viewers watch the special features *before* the main feature, which is a bit weird.

Jenifer Tilly: An absolute hoot. Not only does she have wonderfully mobile features, but I learned from the commentary what an analytic planner she is, doing homework on the script and spotting "dead" passages where she can add her unique contributions.