‘I’m very aware that you’re seeing other agents…’
Movies about making movies. Hmmm. It’s a concept I’m never fully sold on. I know that films like Hail, Caesar! and Once Upon a Time in Hollywood are well thought of, but it’s so easy for them to become self-congratulatory and self-indulgent. Smug even. The Big Picture is not one of those love letter to Hollywood type movies, it’s much more satirical than that. And yet…
Nick Chapman (Kevin Bacon) is an up-and-coming director who is taken under the wing of high-powered Hollywood executive Allen Habel (J. T. Walsh). It soon becomes clear that his arty, black-and-white vision for his next movie does not fit with the vision of the studios. As Nick becomes ever more embroiled with the studio system and glamorous actress Gretchen (Teri Hatcher), he becomes more and more distant from his supportive girlfriend Susan (Emily Longstreth) and his loyal companion Emmet (Michael McKean).
With Christopher Guest behind the camera and McKean joining him on writing duties, there is plenty of comedy royalty knocking about here. Throw in a small role for Martin Short and you have all the ingredients for a classic comedy. The problem is that even in 1989, Hollywood was such an easy target that much of the satire here feels blunted by familiarity. Everyone knows that the Hollywood machine will suck up and spit out anyone with artistic pretensions, and so, to see that one-note joke rendered across 100 minutes soon becomes tedious. Luckily, the performances elevate the material with Bacon, Hatcher and Longstreth all great, but it is Walsh as a slick studio man who provides the film’s finest moments.
The Big Picture hasn’t made much of a cultural splash being all but forgotten now, and honestly? I can see why. A serviceable movie but one that doesn’t need to be revisited in 2022.