Themes: Creative Block, All Washed Up, Life in the Arts
Main Cast: Reg Rogers, Mary Alice, Marisa Berenson, Rob Campbell, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Release Year: 2000
Country: US
Run Time: 90 minutes
Plot
Several stalwarts of the New York independent film scene make appearances in this tale of a creatively frustrated photographer and his search through the streets of Manhattan for ten mysterious snapshots which may hold the key to continued success. The film opens as Max (Reg Rogers), a former wunderkind in the city's art scene, awaits his eagerly-anticipated follow-up show. Although it's been a year since his big splash, Max has nothing to show for himself -- the pressure of his success has left him creatively stunted. His luck changes, however, when an enigmatic barfly shares a beer and some conversation with Max at a bowery-area watering hole. On the bar, the man leaves behind an envelope with ten stunning photographs. Hoping to pass them off as his own, Max leaves, elated -- only to have his artistic gift nabbed by muggers. Our hero spends the rest of the evening on a goose chase through the armpits of the city, encountering lovable misfits at every turn. Writer-director Jeremy Stein populates his debut feature with a wide array of notable N.Y.C. character actors, including John Heard, Maggie Gyllenhaal, and Tom Noonan. ~ Michael Hastings, All Movie Guide
Review
Writer-director Jeremy Stein's feature debut, The Photographer is plagued by the nonstop strained quirkiness that sinks so many modestly budgeted independent films, and it's not helped by the heavy-handed treatment of Stein's artistic themes. The film is engaging, to a point. It's fairly well shot, and features such luminaries of indie film and theater as Mary Alice, Tom Noonan, and Maggie Gyllenhaal, but the mixture of a whiny protagonist, an unconvincing fairy tale social milieu (in which creative white people from all walks of life, and one non-white exotic trump the pretentious gatekeepers of the art world by joining forces in a search for one man's mysterious treasure, and becoming fast friends), and a pervasive, overreaching, mystical view of the creative process bogs it down. One can sense early on that the seemingly supernatural mystery of where the amazing photographs Max (Reg Rogers) finds came from is never going to be satisfyingly resolved, but the lack of true suspense would be acceptable if the quest itself was more compelling. Gyllenhaal seems incapable of being uninteresting, but the acting as a whole is uneven. While everyone seems committed to their offbeat roles, only a few are able to transcend the essential triteness and contrivance of the writing. It's a decent New York movie, with some fresh locations, and a nice, skuzzy downtown atmosphere, but The Photographer is not good-natured or winning enough to pull off its tricky thematic conceit. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
Marco Londoner - Associate Producer, Suzanne Smith - Casting, Neda Pourang - Costume Designer, Jeremy Stein - Director, Andrew Hollander - Composer (Music Score), Joe Warson - Production Designer, Joey Forsyte - Cinematographer, Vanja Cernjul - Cinematographer, Peter O. Almond - Producer, Chris Moore - Producer, Per Melita - Producer, Damien Volpe - Sound/Sound Designer
