Ellie Parker

A well done biographic tale of an aspiring actress in crisis mode who is fedup with mediocrity. More sad than inspiring. Naomi Watts earns self parody kudos and carries the show with charm, wit and superb acting turns. Sparce mature erotic content & ratings phobia make this a perfect made for TV venue for selling soap not conveying deep erotic feelings which are neurotically covered up like some of the characters in key scenes using a blanket or sheet instead of a figleaf to appease rating censors and the moral majority. My dream: the should have brought in director Brian DePalma to take over directing and do some script doctoring. A more European style touch could have made this a great movie not just a slick- sick audition tape for ham actors in some strange purgatory that our cynical faithless times welcomes.

Bottom-Line: Now I know why I never heard of Ellie Parker before, it is best forgotten!I think that Naomi Watts is a very talented actress--Tank Girl (1995) aside--so I decided to explore more of her work before and after her turn in Mulholland Drive (2001) when I first took note of her. So when the critically acclaimed Ellie Parker (2001) came into my possession I decided to take a look.Story-LineWritten and directed by the Scott Coffey, Ellie Parker chronicles the days and nights of struggling actress Ellie Parker (Naomi Watts ~ The Ring, 21 Grams, We Don't Live Here Anymore). That is pretty much it, there isn't much of a plot-line here...My ThoughtsEllie Parker is a bore! It's hard to believe that the movie received two thumbs up from then Ebert & Roeper; were they watching the same boring yawn-inducing movie I was? As I stated at the outset of this review, I think Naomi Watts is a very talented actress, but this movie, was well (what's another word for boring?) uninteresting, tedious, and mind-numbing! So much so that half way through it I doubled the speed of the movie just so it would end quicker!The whole of Ellie Parker, shot as it was on digital video with handheld cameras and extreme close-up's, feels as if we are waiting for the real movie to start. That the digital portion was Coffey roaming around town cashing in favors from his actor buddies and I was waiting for the move to get down to the business of telling a story. There was never a feeling as though I was watching a "real" movie. There was no plot; I do not find the real (fictional) lives of people I do not know all that interesting.In the end Ellie Parker lent itself to no real insight into the subject matter it was supposed to be portraying. I learned nothing new; I might as well been watching paint dry! Watts was her usual self acting her butt of with the material she was given, but frankly the material was beneath her. Now I know why I never heard of Ellie Parker before, it is best forgotten!

Amazingly good movie about acting world in Los Angeles. Very funny at times. Would give it 5 stars but the quality of footage is not enough for five stars. Shot in early digital video. If you can look past that footage quality is very fun to watch.

I purchased this movie and was very surprised to see that it was shot using a hand held video camera and didn't really look like a "real" movie at all. It looked more like it was produced by a 1st year film student who got lucky and was able to procure some name actors to appear in it. I still haven't been able to sit through it in its entirety, and may not invest my limited recreational time in this movie. Too much other better stuff to watch first.

Maomi Watts is a brilliant actress. Great insight to the Hollywood tree climbers. I was simply mesmerized by Watts. She definitely moved to one of the highest spots in my list of favorite actresses.

I loved this movie! I'm an aspiring actor in Hollywood and can totally relate to what she's going through. The way that is filmed is handheld camera and it's not for everyone.

Poor video quality

Nice to see something different. Unusual and experimental. If for no other reason, watch for Naomi :)

This film is as adorable as Naomi Watts herself. It may be low budget but is so much better than a lot of big budget stuff - it is raw, authentic, endlessly watchable. For me, its title refers to the song 'Do You Know the Way to San Jose', especially the lines, 'And all the stars that never were are parking cars and pumping gas'. The movie is about Watts' years in Hollywood before Mulholland Drive, when she was sometimes on the verge of giving up, of becoming an 'L.A. parker'.There are lots of great moments - her laugh when she tears up her photo on the street, the snuggles into the sofa when she reverts to being a tiny child in her therapy session, her lost-in-dreams face when she's eating the ice cream in her car...Ellie Parker is the only movie, the only one that I've ever watched and loved so much had to watch immediately again!A gem.

I too wondered if I could keep watching this after 15 minutes or so. It's not conventional and is a hard watch. But then you get into it and it becomes such a rewarding view. Miss Watts is giving her all here. Not only is she the focus of the film, she produces it too, which means that she's giving a lot to the whole project.She doesn't have to do films like this, but she has. Yes, she's always pleasing on the eye, which makes things easier, but this isn't about what you see. It's about the emotional ride that she takes you on, and because it is about emotion, it IS a struggle in places.After it had finished I felt that what I had seen had been SO rewarding. Miss Watts performance is a stunner, and she deserves every praise for going through with it. You can only respect her after seeing this and realising what she put into it.It's not an easy watch, but it certainly won me over.

Added to lovefilm list as going through a Chevy Chase phase and because of the Mullholland Drive connection, plus Naomi Watts is always good. It is low budget but that makes it more accessible and engaging. We weren't sure whether we'd carry on with it to the end at first, but once drawn in we couldn't look away. Funny, sad but always emotionally engaging. Nice to see Jennifer Syme in a small role too.

:)

excellent