Hollywood Ending
Encyclopedia
Hollywood Ending is a 2002 American film
written and directed by Woody Allen
, who also plays the principal character. It tells the story of a once-famous film director
who suffers hysterical blindness
due to the intense pressure of directing.
in order to pay his bills and support his current live-in girlfriend (Debra Messing
). When he is thrown off his latest effort (a deodorant
commercial being filmed in the frozen north), he desperately seeks a real movie project.
Out of the blue, Val receives an offer to direct a big-budget blockbuster
movie to be set in New York City
. However, the offer comes from his former wife (Tea Leoni
) and her current boyfriend (Treat Williams
), the studio head who stole Val's wife from him.
Pushed by his agent (Mark Rydell
), Val agrees to the project, but a psychosomatic ailment strikes him blind just before production is to begin. The movie plays out with an aging director struggling to regain his vision, both metaphorically and literally. It is easy to envision the movie as a not-so-subtle metaphor for Allen's real-life struggles during the 1990s to regain (or retain) his early momentum in the film-making milieu.
In the end, Val's project costs $60 million -- and flops. Nevertheless, Val enjoys a "Hollywood ending" of his own -- his movie is a hit in France
. Winning his wife back, he happily proclaims, "Thank God the French exist."
reported that the film received 47% positive reviews, based on 130 reviews. Metacritic
reported the film had an average score of 46 out of 100, based on 37 reviews.
The film was a failure in American theaters, with ticket sales under $5 million. As with most later Woody Allen films, it had more success internationally, with a worldwide gross of $14.8 million (oddly mirroring the plot of the film).
It was screened out of competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival
.
In the United Kingdom, it was the first of Allen's films not to receive a theatrical release.
Film critic Bryant Frazer thought that it suffered from poor editing. He wrote, "What's most frustrating is the sense that Hollywood Ending could have been quite a bit better than it actually is. At 114 minutes, it's decisively lacking in the brevity that used to characterize Allen's pictures - even the super-serious, Bergman
-inspired stuff. Worse, his timing seems to be off -- the filmmaker who was once notorious for cutting his films to the absolute bone now gives us rambling, overlong shots featuring performers who almost seem to be ad libbing their dialogue. I ran to the Internet Movie Database to investigate, and discovered what may be the problem - Susan Morse
is gone. Morse, the editor who had worked with Allen since Manhattan
in 1979 and who turned into a real soldier by the time of the jazzy montage that characterized Deconstructing Harry
, was reportedly a victim of budget-cutting within the ranks."
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
written and directed by Woody Allen
Woody Allen
Woody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
, who also plays the principal character. It tells the story of a once-famous film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
who suffers hysterical blindness
Conversion disorder
Conversion disorder is a condition in which patients present with neurological symptoms such as numbness, blindness, paralysis, or fits without a neurological cause. It is thought that these problems arise in response to difficulties in the patient's life, and conversion is considered a psychiatric...
due to the intense pressure of directing.
Plot
Val Waxman (Allen) is a one-time prestigious film director lately reduced to overseeing cheesy television commercialsTelevision advertisement
A television advertisement or television commercial, often just commercial, advert, ad, or ad-film – is a span of television programming produced and paid for by an organization that conveys a message, typically one intended to market a product...
in order to pay his bills and support his current live-in girlfriend (Debra Messing
Debra Messing
Debra Lynn Messing is an American actress, voice artist, and comedienne. She is perhaps best known for her role as Grace Adler in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace and as Molly Kagan in the mini-series The Starter Wife....
). When he is thrown off his latest effort (a deodorant
Deodorant
Deodorants are substances applied to the body to affect body odor caused by bacterial growth and the smell associated with bacterial breakdown of perspiration in armpits, feet and other areas of the body. A subgroup of deodorants, antiperspirants, affect odor as well as prevent sweating by...
commercial being filmed in the frozen north), he desperately seeks a real movie project.
Out of the blue, Val receives an offer to direct a big-budget blockbuster
Blockbuster (entertainment)
Blockbuster, as applied to film or theatre, denotes a very popular or successful production. The entertainment industry use was originally theatrical slang referring to a particularly successful play but is now used primarily by the film industry...
movie to be set in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. However, the offer comes from his former wife (Tea Leoni
Téa Leoni
Elizabeth Téa Pantaleoni , better known by her stage name Téa Leoni, is an American actress. She has starred in a wide range of films including Jurassic Park III, The Family Man, Deep Impact, Fun with Dick and Jane, Spanglish, Bad Boys, and Ghost Town.-Early life:Leoni was born in New York City...
) and her current boyfriend (Treat Williams
Treat Williams
Richard Treat Williams is a Screen Actors Guild Award–nominated American actor and children's book author who has appeared on film, stage and television...
), the studio head who stole Val's wife from him.
Pushed by his agent (Mark Rydell
Mark Rydell
Mark Rydell is an American actor, film director and producer.-Career:Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns,...
), Val agrees to the project, but a psychosomatic ailment strikes him blind just before production is to begin. The movie plays out with an aging director struggling to regain his vision, both metaphorically and literally. It is easy to envision the movie as a not-so-subtle metaphor for Allen's real-life struggles during the 1990s to regain (or retain) his early momentum in the film-making milieu.
In the end, Val's project costs $60 million -- and flops. Nevertheless, Val enjoys a "Hollywood ending" of his own -- his movie is a hit in France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Winning his wife back, he happily proclaims, "Thank God the French exist."
Cast
- Téa LeoniTéa LeoniElizabeth Téa Pantaleoni , better known by her stage name Téa Leoni, is an American actress. She has starred in a wide range of films including Jurassic Park III, The Family Man, Deep Impact, Fun with Dick and Jane, Spanglish, Bad Boys, and Ghost Town.-Early life:Leoni was born in New York City...
- Ellie - George HamiltonGeorge Hamilton (actor)George Stevens Hamilton is an American film and television actor.-Early life:Hamilton was the youngest son of bandleader George "Spike" Hamilton and his first wife, Ann Stevens . He was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and lived in Blytheville, Arkansas...
- Ed - Treat WilliamsTreat WilliamsRichard Treat Williams is a Screen Actors Guild Award–nominated American actor and children's book author who has appeared on film, stage and television...
- Hal - Woody AllenWoody AllenWoody Allen is an American screenwriter, director, actor, comedian, jazz musician, author, and playwright. Allen's films draw heavily on literature, sexuality, philosophy, psychology, Jewish identity, and the history of cinema...
- Val Waxman - Debra MessingDebra MessingDebra Lynn Messing is an American actress, voice artist, and comedienne. She is perhaps best known for her role as Grace Adler in the NBC sitcom Will & Grace and as Molly Kagan in the mini-series The Starter Wife....
- Lori - Neal HuffNeal HuffNeal Huff is an American actor. He received his MFA from the Graduate Acting Program at New York University. He has appeared on Broadway in revivals of The Tempest and The Lion in Winter and the Tony Award-winning Take Me Out...
- Commercial A.D. - Mark RydellMark RydellMark Rydell is an American actor, film director and producer.-Career:Rydell's initial training was in music. As a youth, he wanted to be a conductor. He began his career as an actor and first became known for his role as Walt Johnson on The Edge of Night and as Jeff Baker on As the World Turns,...
- Al Hack - Lu YuLu YuLu Yu is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He is best known for his monumental book The Classic of Tea , the first definitive work on cultivating, making and drinking tea.-Biography:...
- Cameraman - Barney ChengBarney ChengBarney Cheng is a Chinese-American actor.He was born in Taiwan, and speaks Mandarin and Taiwanesefluently. His family emigrated to the United States when he was 12-years-old and he grew up in Brea, California. After graduating from Brea Olinda High School, Cheng attended Stanford University and...
- Translator - Isaac MizrahiIsaac MizrahiIsaac Mizrahi is an American TV presenter, fashion designer, and was the creative director of Liz Claiborne. He is best known for his eponymous fashion lines.-Early life:...
- Elio Sebastian - Marian SeldesMarian SeldesMarian Hall Seldes is an American stage, film, radio, and television actress whose career has spanned six decades and who was elected to the American Theatre Hall of Fame.-Life and career:...
- Alexandra - Tiffani ThiessenTiffani ThiessenTiffani Thiessen is an American actress best known for her roles as Kelly Kapowski in Saved by the Bell and as Valerie Malone in Beverly Hills, 90210. She is also known for her role on Fastlane as Wilhelmina 'Billie' Chambers...
- Sharon Bates - Peter GeretyPeter GeretyPeter Gerety is an American actor.Gerety began acting while a student at Boston University, participating in productions at the Charles Playhouse. In 1965, he joined the Trinity Square Repertory Company, a resident theater company in Providence, Rhode Island where he appeared in over 125...
- Psychiatrist - Greg MottolaGreg MottolaGregory J. "Greg" Mottola is an American filmmaker, screenwriter and television director. Mottola wrote and directed the 1996 independent film The Daytrippers, then concentrated for several years on directing in television for series such as Undeclared and Arrested Development...
- Assistant Director - Fred MelamedFred MelamedFred Melamed is a U.S. actor and writer.He was born in New York City, and received his theatrical training at Hampshire College and the Yale School of Drama. At Yale, he was a Samuel F. B. Morse College Graduate Fellow. He was also a nominee for the Irene Ryan Award, a prize conferred upon the...
- Pappas - Jeff MazzolaJeff MazzolaJeff Mazzola is an American producer, director, prop master, and occasional actor from New York City.- Filmography :Producer*Colors of Love *Made in Brooklyn...
- Prop Man - Aaron StanfordAaron StanfordAaron Stanford is an American actor, best known for his role as Pyro in X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand films, and Doug Bukowski in the 2006 The Hills Have Eyes remake....
- Actor - Erica LeerhsenErica LeerhsenErica Lei Leerhsen is an American actress. She is best known for her lead roles in the horror films Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and Wrong Turn 2. She is often referred to as a modern day scream queen...
- Actress - Joe Rigano - Projectionist
- Mark WebberMark Webber (actor)Mark Allen Webber is an American actor, screenwriter and director known for his roles in the films Snow Day and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.-Personal life:...
- Tony Waxman
Reception
The film received mixed reviews from critics. The review aggregator Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
reported that the film received 47% positive reviews, based on 130 reviews. Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
reported the film had an average score of 46 out of 100, based on 37 reviews.
The film was a failure in American theaters, with ticket sales under $5 million. As with most later Woody Allen films, it had more success internationally, with a worldwide gross of $14.8 million (oddly mirroring the plot of the film).
It was screened out of competition at the 2002 Cannes Film Festival
2002 Cannes Film Festival
The 2002 Cannes Film Festival started on 15 May and ran until 26 May. The Palme d'Or went to the Polish-French-German-British co-produced film The Pianist directed by Roman Polanski.-Jury:* David Lynch * Sharon Stone* Michelle Yeoh...
.
In the United Kingdom, it was the first of Allen's films not to receive a theatrical release.
Film critic Bryant Frazer thought that it suffered from poor editing. He wrote, "What's most frustrating is the sense that Hollywood Ending could have been quite a bit better than it actually is. At 114 minutes, it's decisively lacking in the brevity that used to characterize Allen's pictures - even the super-serious, Bergman
Ingmar Bergman
Ernst Ingmar Bergman was a Swedish director, writer and producer for film, stage and television. Described by Woody Allen as "probably the greatest film artist, all things considered, since the invention of the motion picture camera", he is recognized as one of the most accomplished and...
-inspired stuff. Worse, his timing seems to be off -- the filmmaker who was once notorious for cutting his films to the absolute bone now gives us rambling, overlong shots featuring performers who almost seem to be ad libbing their dialogue. I ran to the Internet Movie Database to investigate, and discovered what may be the problem - Susan Morse
Susan E. Morse
Susan E. Morse is an American film editor with more than 30 film credits. She had a notable collaboration with director Woody Allen from 1977-1998...
is gone. Morse, the editor who had worked with Allen since Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in 1979 and who turned into a real soldier by the time of the jazzy montage that characterized Deconstructing Harry
Deconstructing Harry
Deconstructing Harry is a black comedy film by Woody Allen released in 1997. This film tells the story of a successful writer called Harry Block, played by Allen himself, who draws inspiration from people he knows in real-life, and from events that happened to him, sometimes causing these people to...
, was reportedly a victim of budget-cutting within the ranks."