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In Rockwell’s shabbily entertaining little comedy, a struggling wan’o-be film-maker foolishly accepts the funding of a charming but duplicitous gangster to film his 500-page opus, Unconditional Surrender, in which he hopes to cast (and subsequently woo) his beautiful next-door neighbour. But the ageing criminal seems more interested in the felonious act of money raising than in the film itself. Steve Buscemi and Seymour Cassel are predictably excellent, whilst the raft of cameos – in particular, Sully Boyar’s affecting turn – prove enjoyable.
Somebody to Love | 1994 | ★★★½
In Rockwell’s wittily unpredictable, quietly affecting comedy-drama, a struggling actress makes ends meet working as a taxi dancer. Her lover, a married actor whose star has seriously waned, treats her poorly. However, the fawning of an obsessive new suitor soon shakes up her atrophying life. Though, the resultant mess is hardly to her liking. The performances of Rosie Perez, Harvey Keitel, and in particular Michael DeLorenzo are captivating, whilst the plentiful cameos – including Anthony Quinn as a soulful mob boss, Steve Buscemi as a surprisingly sexy transvestite, Quentin Tarantino as a pontificating barman, Samuel Fuller as a drunken film-maker, and Stanley Tucci as a particularly odious talent agent – prove very entertaining.
New Year’s Eve, his first night on the job, a bellboy is called to take ice to a raging party, but is given the wrong room number. Instead of finding himself surrounded by drunken revellers, he finds himself held at gunpoint by an insanely jealous mobster who believes that his wife (gagged and tied to a chair) has cheated on him with a man named Theodore – a moniker by which the bellhop coincidentally goes (though he prefers Ted.) Providing the second section for the much maligned Four Rooms, Rockwell’s cartoonily manic short, featuring a deliciously over-the-top yet wonderfully dexterous performance from Tim Roth, proves one of its highlights.
When the potential kidney donor for his son disappears, a bail bondsman and his boy take a clandestine midnight trip to the zoo, whilst two clowns, a stripper, a music mogul and his girlfriend, and a pair of priests disappear into the night in search of the all-but-dead fugitive. Wacky plotting and predictably good performances from the well-assembled cast prove entertaining, but the vaguely cheap looking digital photography and a somewhat inconsistent tone take the gloss off a little.
In Rockwell’s hugely enjoyable satirical comedy, a down-on-his-luck Laundromat-owner flies to Los Angeles to find the $10,000 that he needs to get his beloved dog, Buddha, back from a loan shark, whilst also attending an old friend’s funeral, but ridiculously sexy French editors, pretentious widows, dodgy producers, spacy friends, and the residents of Little Armenia complicate matters somewhat. Some well-drawn characters and exuberant plotting, a raft of enjoyable cameos, the odd moment of directorial magic, and an anchoringly earthy central performance from Peter Dinklage combine to oft delightful effect.
