Ryan McNeil
There’s something to be said for a person telling their own life story post-humously, even if I’m not deeply interested in the person’s life in the first place. It’s this haunting technique that originally drew me to KURT COBAIN: ABOUT A SON, and TUPAC RESURRECTION…and it’s what draws me to AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE.
This doc gives actor Spalding Gray a chance to do something he does best – monologue – about the events of his own life, but it affords him an opportunity to sum it all up for us. This in its own right would have my attention, but when you take that notion and put it in the hands of Steven Soderbergh I’m all in. Soderbergh and Gray previously collaborated on a rather memorable monologue doc called GRAY’S ANATOMY. No…it has nothing to do with the ABC hospital drama.
Whether I love them or I hate them, I am always drawn to Soderbergh’s experimental work. So when you take a director I admire, have him presenting the truly sad and moving story of a one-time collaborator, and offer out the cinematic carrot of a man telling his life story in full, I guess it’s suffice to say that I’m there.
AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE will screen on Friday April 30th, 6:30pm at The Bloor Cinema, and Saturday May 1st, 1:45pm at Isabel Bader Theatre
That would be interesting. Gray was never an actor who really stood out to me, so I had to imdb him, only to have lots of "OH, THAT GUY!" moments.
Soderbergh can be his own worst enemy at times, but I think something like this would be hard to really mess up, since there's a level of simplicity in direction. Since the person is the heart of it all.
I'm a huge Spalding Gray fan. Swimming to Cambodia is a fave…and I've read a lot of his published work. Too bad I missed this selection for Hot Docs.
@ Franny… How did you miss it? The festival doesn't start for another two weeks.
Bader Theatre. Best damned theatre in town, comfort-wise. Oh, how many times I fell asleep in that lecture hall…
I bet you're getting really damned excited about Hot Docs. Two weeks!