The
lowdown: 'L.A. Without a Map' is a romantic comedy
drama that is based on a novel by Richard Rayner, and
stars David Tennant as Richard
McTavish, a quiet unassuming Scottish undertaker in the town of Bradford.
Richard
is engaged to Joy and aspires
to be a writer (aside from writing obituaries in the local newspaper).
He has written
one unpublished novel called
Uzi
Suicide, which Joy says is best left unpublished. Richard is bored
with his life, until
he meets a young American
woman, Barbara (Vinessa Shaw), who is in Bradford for the day. Barbara
wants to be a
Hollywood actress, and works
as a waitress in the hope that a producer or casting director will notice
her. They soon
become good friends, and
he cannot stop thinking about her after she goes home. Richard decides
to abandon his
boring life and go to Los
Angeles to be with Barbara, who is rather surprised by his sudden appearance
in Hollywood.
The relationship between
Richard and Barbara gets off to a difficult start, and is complicated by
the frequent presence
of Barbara's boyfriend,
Patterson, an ambitious and arrogant film director who warns Richard of
dire consequences if
he tries to be more than
just friends with Barbara. Richard rents a house in a rather dubious part
of town, while his
neighbour gets him a job
as a pool cleaner. Meanwhile, Richard tries pitching Uzi Suicide
to a Hollywood agent, and
keeps trying to woo Barbara.
When she sees Patterson chatting up another woman, Barbara dumps him and
agrees
to marry Richard. However,
their marriage is soon in trouble, and it is not long before Barbara returns
to Patterson,
despite Richard's warnings
that her ex-boyfriend is only after one thing. Richard is desperate to
win Barbara back. He
is arrested and spends a
night in jail after causing a disturbance at the party for a film premiere.
He is deported and
resumes his life as an undertaker
in Bradford. However, Barbara returns and reveals that she has left Patterson,
having
finally realised the type
of man he is, while Richard's Hollywood agent has secured a screen treatment
for Uzi Suicide
and sent him a cheque for
$50,000. Richard and Barbara decide to make a fresh start in Bradford.
The
verdict:
'L.A. Without a Map' is an entertaining film that is notable for
the number of Hollywood celebrities that
appear
in minor roles as themselves, including French actress Anouk Aimée
and director Monte Hellman. The most
famous
celebrity appearance is by Johnny Depp, who reprises his role as William
Blake in Dead Man, appearing in
character
by dispensing advice (without actually talking) to Richard from a Dead
Man poster. Although you can guess
how
the film ends, there are some great moments and marvellous acting along
the way.
Video Clips:
Richard meets Barbara
7.3mb Pitching
film ideas 6.7mb |
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