The Indie Review Series

With little else to do right now besides laugh at the energetic little chipmunk trying to scale my window, I've finally been getting around to all those movies I'd been meaning to see.  While most of them are classics (I will now judge car chase scenes by impossibly high standards thanks to The French Connection) or just ones everyone has to see (I'm a bit ashamed I hadn't seen Bruce Willis/John McClane kick Alan Rickman's Germanic ass until now), I recently ended up watching three indie movies from the past year in a row.  This group of films was just like most decent film trilogies: there was a fantastic one, a pretty good close second, and one that could have used a little work, but that we still forgive for its minor flaws.  

I thought I'd break up my reviews into three separate posts (if you couldn't already tell, I can write a lot).  So without further ado, here is the first of the indie trio...

I started off with Steve Buscemi's Interview, one of three planned American remakes of the late Theo van Gogh's works (Stanley Tucci's Blind Date and Bob Balaban's 1-900 constitute the rest of the group).  Its premise is simple: Pierre Peders (Buscemi), a self-important political reporter, is sent to interview the seemingly vapid mega-star Katja (Sienna Miller), much to the chagrin of both parties.  When Katja inadvertently gets Pierre into a car accident, she invites him to her loft where the two carry on a highly unconventional interview that reveals surprising depth to the pair.

What's good about it: Sienna Miller.  I had never seen any of her movies, but she nails the messed-up starlet with more brains than she's given credit for.  The twist ending is also excellent.

What's not so good about it: Steve Buscemi is hit-or-miss throughout the film and, while sometimes entertaining and/or intense, the dialogue between the two is often exasperating.

Bottom line: Definitely not a must-see, but a good introduction to Sienna Miller and, I guess to a degree, Theo van Gogh.