Color, R (mature themes, language, sexual situations, drug use), 111 min., DVD $29.99, VHS rental
DVD: actor/director commentary
Street: March 28, Prebook: March 2
First Run: L, Nov. 2005, <$1 mil.
Cast: Giovanni Ribisi (Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow), Franka Potente (The Bourne Supremacy), Joshua Jackson (Cursed), Christina Ricci (Pumpkin)
Director: Adam Goldberg
THINKFILM
Story Line: Movie star Gray Evans (Ribisi) seems to be at the top of his game, but he's really headed for a nervous breakdown. In addition to pining for a lost love (Ricci), Gray has begun imagining that he's being stalked by a deranged fan who plans to kill him.
Bottom Line: Although hardly a household name or paparazzi target, actor/director Goldberg certainly knows the milieu he replicates in I Love Your Work. This low-budget thriller crackles with nervous energy and manages to generate some sympathy for those stars perpetually hounded by sycophants, wannabes and media vultures. At first, Work comes off as derivative, a seeming rip-off of The Fan, but a third act about-face turns it into something quite different when, following his stalker's unexpected suicide, Gray snaps and makes hostages of a video-store clerk (Jackson) and his girlfriend, who reminds the actor of his old flame. Ribisi's mannered performance, complete with nervous tics and eccentric line readings, suddenly becomes appropriate to his character. He's not convincing as a matinee idol—who would want to stalk Giovanni Ribisi?—but he's definitely in his element as a gun-wielding psycho no longer capable of distinguishing fantasy from reality. With a strong cast and a premise that appeals to consumers, this quirky little indie could do quite well at rental.
