Delirious

 (2007)

by Johnny Web (Uncle Scoopy; Greg Wroblewski)

Alison Lohman plays a pop star who is recovering from a bad break-up with her boyfriend, and whose grief is exacerbated by paparazzi. Steve Buscemi plays a low-rent paparazzo who lives in an extremely dilapidated apartment building, and struggles to pay the rent. Michael Pitt plays a homeless 20-something kid whose story links the star and the paparazzo. The homeless kid stumbles into a group of paparazzi one morning as they camp out, waiting for the pop star. The kid ends up volunteering to get coffee so none of the photographers have to abandon a key vantage point. He happens to run into the star, and they have an immediate connection. He may be homeless, but he has a beautiful cherubic face, ala a young DiCaprio, and he's a sweet kid, so the pop star is immediately attracted to his naivete and good looks.

The paparazzo hires the kid as his "assistant," and lets him clean up and sleep in his apartment. While he lives in the paparazzo's closet, the kid tries to pursue his unlikely romance with the pop star and does quite well for a while, but blows it when he gets invited to the pop star's birthday and brings along you-know-who as "a friend." Although the paparazzo promises not to take any pictures at the party, he can't help himself when he gets introduced to Elvis Costello, and his indiscretion gets him kicked out. The homeless kid is also kicked out for having brought a reviled paparazzo to the party, and his unlikely romance with the star seems to have ended.

The final component of the plot is that the handsome boy ends up getting recruited by a horny 40ish casting director (Gina Gershon) who thinks the lad just may be able to make it as a soap opera or reality show star. Even if that falls through, she figures the young hunk will at least keep her bed warm. The young man's career takes off, inevitably leading him back to the pop star, who is his true love, or so he thinks. He has to balance his ambition and his love for the pop tart against his loyalty to the sleazebag paparazzo who saved him from homelessness and to the agent who built his career and wants him for herself.

Part of Delirious is a truly romantic love story between two naive and well-mannered kids who just happen to be in the public eye. That sincere romance is packed inside a cynical and very odd black dramedy about the lives of paparazzi, agents, and handlers. That combination sounds incongrous, so I expected to dislike the film. I was wrong. The whole package makes for a surprisingly good watch, not because of the beautiful young couple who conduct their courtship in public, although their story is kind of fairy-tale cute, but because of the old pros Buscemi and Gershon. Buscemi, as always, makes his character completely credible, natural and multi-dimensional. He's just one of those actors, like Denzel, who can make just about any dialogue or situation work.

Delirious was a critical darling, but it's an arty and totally non-commercial film and would rate a pass without Buscemi. With him, however, it's worth a look if you like movies off the beaten track.

 

DVD INFO

* widescreen anamorphic

* 107 min

* features to be announced

 

 

 

 

THE CRITICS AND ACADEMIES

3.5 Roger Ebert (of 4 stars)
84 Rotten Tomatoes  (% positive)
68 Metacritic.com (of 100)

THE PEOPLE

   
6.7 IMDB summary (of 10)
   

THE BOX OFFICE

Box Office Mojo. It was released in five theaters and grossed $86,000.

 

NUDITY REPORT

  • Alison Lohman spends a great deal of the film in various bra and panty outfits.
  • Gina Gershon shows the bottom half of her bum when stripping off for sex.

Our Grade:

If you are not familiar with our grading system, you need to read the explanation, because the grading is not linear. For example, by our definition, a C is solid and a C+ is a VERY good movie. There are very few Bs and As. Based on our descriptive system, this film is a:

C