Jiminy Glick in LaLaWood

Starring Martin Short and Jan Hooks
Screenplay by Martin Short, Joe Flaherty and Michael Short
Directed by Vadim Jean
no website

IN SHORT: Hysterically funny, for those in the know. [Rated R For language and crude sexual content. 90 minutes]

"In the Know" in this case refers to you film fans who see more than the average share of movie releases; read sites like this one; subscribe to more than one movie/entertainment magazine and check out those useless teevee and cable offerings that fill early evening time slots on a regular basis. Those raised on fart joke comedies won't find much to love about Jiminy Glick in LaLaWood. Those who know a little bit about films and the people that love films will be very surprised.

Surprised is the correct word. We saw Jiminy Glick in LaLaWood in advance, in a private screening room filled with A-list critics. How we got in with the A-list has more to do with grit and determination and outlasting all the other internet wannabees than with the Miracle From Above that it used to be. That said, all critics in the comfy room said it out loud: 'Oh boy is this movie gonna stink.' 'Oh God I hate my job on days like this.' 'This is the kind of movie I make my friends watch when they think we've got it easy' . . . and so on and so forth. And you know what?

We all, to a man and woman, were laughing from the first line of dialog. That laughter, pretty much, didn't stop until the film was done ninety minutes later. To be quite fair and totally honest, we haven't laughed as much since the South Park movie of a couple years back, and Jiminy Glick has no for letter words or musical numbers to annoy parents or pad out the running time. It's all funny, all the time.

Based on the character Martin Short introduced on Comedy Central, Jiminy Glick in LaLaWood begins as a standard prequel story. In this case, though, it's a story as seen and narrated by the eye of auteur David Lynch (also Short). Which pretty much tells you if you're ready for this experience. If you know who David Lynch is, not even his movies, his rep will do, that's all need to know. Everyone else substitute Rod Serling for Lynch and you'll be close enough for rock 'n' roll (sic).

As the promotional poster puts it, this is a story of "How a Legend was Born". This legend to be, the pride of Butte, Montana, is a television and newspaper reporter who is totally clueless about everything he is supposed to be expert about. Assigned to cover the very prestigious Toronto Film Festival -- which would be a pretty good joke to Americans were that festival not as important as, say, the Sundance or Tribeca festivals -- Jiminy packs up his wife Dixie (Jan Hooks) and twin sons and motors off towards fame.

Before he even begins with the nitty gritty of interviewing stars and reporting "on the scene" Jiminy must first view the headline picture of the event, director Ben DiCarlo's new epic Growin Up Ghandi, the heretofore story of the pre-pacifist career of the legend of the title. Planted in the middle of a sold out house, Glick instantly falls asleep. His review, of course, is a rave. Which is a surprise to everyone else who walked out of the stinker, which was everybody else but the Glicks. The one good review gets Jiminy an exclusive interview with DiCarlo (Corey Pearson), in and of itself an astounding feat since the director is as reclusive as real life names like Woody Allen. While no one else is looking, Glick also lands fading-to-everyone-but-him movie star Miranda Coolidge (Elizabeth Perkins). When Glick wakes to find the movie star dead in the bed next to him, well, Jiminy is already obsessed with the real life movie star murder story of Lana Turner (Courtney Anderson) and her mobster lover Johnny Stompanato (Darren Shahlavi), so the comparisons fly and it's off to the races from there.

We'll also point out the presence of Steve Martin, Whoopi Goldberg and Kurt Russell in additional, and totally improvised, interview segments. [not to forget Aries Spear and Mo Collins of MadTV; and Janeane Garofalo and Catherine Keener, too]. We have to point it out since we were laughing so hard throughout the rest of the film that we didn't stop to take notes. Jiminy Glick in LaLaWood is one of those rare films that is such a surprise that it reminds us of why we got into this biz in the first place. Well, no, actually since that had to do with us getting hit by a truck, but movies? Yes, we love movies and we love this comedy that loves the people that love movies. And the jerks that fill the business as well.

On average, a first run movie ticket will run you Ten Bucks. Were Cranky able to set his own price to Jiminy Glick in LaLaWood, he would have paid . . .

$7.00

We love film. We loved this movie.

	Click to buy films starring Martin Short
	Click to buy films starring Jan Hooks
	Click to buy films starring Kurt Russell

The Cranky Critic® is a Registered Trademark of, and his website is Copyright © 1995 - 2012 by Chuck Schwartz. Articles by Paul Fischer are Copyright © 1999 - 2006 Paul Fischer. All images, unless otherwise noted, are property of,©, ®, ™ their respective studios and are used by permission. All Rights Reserved. Not to be used or copied for any commercial purpose. Academy Award™(s) and Oscar®(s) are registered trademarks and service marks of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.