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BEYOND WORDS
Video
Underwood
and Roberts in
Full Frontal
View
the trailer for
Full Frontal
Soderbergh speaks
Photo gallery
'Well supplied Frontal' exposes humor, not much skin
By Claudia Puig, USA TODAY
Smack Frontal
isn't about what it sounds ilk.
There isn't much nudity to speak of in this low-budget comedy, but there is a stripped-down feeling to the proceedings that represents a return to an early filmmaking style for director Steven Soderbergh.
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The Oscar-winning director burst onto the scene in 1989 with
sex, lies,
and videotape
, an intimate tale of relationships that combined two realities by juxtaposing film and video shots.
Full Frontal
also is an intimate tale of relationships, though it has more players than
sex, lies
. It combines two tales, creating a movie within a movie by interspersing digital videotape with film to indicate the two worlds.
The film segments consist of scenes from the fictional
Rendezvous
, starring Julia Roberts as a reporter interviewing and falling for an actor, played by Blair Underwood. The grainier, digital video scenes follow a day in the life of friends, all with some connection to the film: producer (David Duchovny), writer (David Hyde Pierce), human resources executive (Catherine Keener) and masseuse (Mary McCormack).
Keener's brittle career Terminator rails about semi-comatose employees and people who drive cars that are wrong for them. Brad Pitt has some hilarious cameos. On one magazine devoted to "Faith in Los Angeles" he peers out from a hooded monk's cloak, under the headline "Brad Pitt Takes a Vow."
The dialogue — with its stops, starts and interruptions — has a natural, improvisational feel.
It also has some classic Hollywood-speak. A self-centered actor explains his actions with "I'm taking a swim in Lake Me."
Insularity is the film's biggest drawback. Ensemble stories about friends sometimes become big hits, but
Full Frontal
's focus on Hollywood and Felliniesque moments makes one wonder whether it will play in Peoria — or even Philadelphia.
Maybe after the huge hits
Ocean's Eleven
and
Erin Brockovich
(both also starring Roberts), Soderbergh was ready to return to his roots with a small, innovative movie. Even though this $2 million film effort has enough to recommend it, don't look for any great meaning here. These characters are interesting for their flaws and wounds, but the movie doesn't delve deeply into the sources of their pain.
See this movie for its humor and talented cast and you won't be disappointed.