Living in Oblivion (1995)

Living in Oblivion is a movie I've been intending to give a second chance since it and Primer were my first two Instant Watch movies on a laptop that turned out to be dropping sectors and showed severely degraded video streaming. I stand by my original assessment: "A low-budget film with so-so acting about making a low-budget film with so-so acting. You do the math." I still prefer Steve Buscemi in small doses esp. in an ensemble cast (as in Reservoir Dogs) though as star and director, not so much, since he is hard to look at or (as with Woody Allen) to conceive of as being attractive to the opposite sex in any way. I still think this is an interesting film about the process of making films that will attract film buffs, however, I'm more amenable to commending Living in Oblivion as a drama that will hold your interest and make you say "Now that was a well-spent 90 minutes with a story I will remember and cherish." This movie stays with you and grows on you. Frankly, I like the ensemble cast better than ever and I have become a fan of the film's stylistic touchstones: black-and-white for real life with color for camera takes, cinema-verite closeups and long shots, and an amusingly reflexive music soundtrack that steps in during camera takes but pauses during characters' moments of hesitation. Carolyn Keener has a wonderfully moving scene even though she is for the most part playing mediocre take after mediocre take to show the garish meat and the bones of independent film making. Think of this movie as a video record of a trip that captures every mile marker of road, every eye blink of the passengers, and so on. There is some story framing and dramatic structure, albeit in the questionable technique of dividing the film into three parts. The whole production is rather stolid but nevertheless appealing because of its intimacy and sensitivity. I still haven't laughed but I definitely appreciate the characters. 2.5 revised to 3.5 stars. (9-18-07 updated 8-11-09)