Lisa Picard is Famous (2001)

Griffin Dunne was an actor who I always felt deserved better than he got. His lead role in Martin Scorsese's brilliantly bleak paranoia comedy After Hours, among other roles, cemented his coolness in my mind. So when he turned to directing a few years back, I was excited. As it turns out, his first film (Addicted to Love) was resolutely mediocre. His third and newest film (Lisa Picard), on the other hand, is... um.... resolutely mediocre, actually. It's a completely toothless mockumentary about an aspiring actress and her hard road to fame. One day, I'm sure that Griffin Dunne will make a great, sardonic black-comedy masterpiece. He's certainly got the sensibilities for it. But after seeing Lisa Picard, I don't need his next film to be that masterpiece -- I'd just like it to represent some sort of progress.

Grade: C