Enjoyable but as futile as its narrative

Rating: 6/10 (1 April 2013)

I really enjoyed this film most of the way through. It is well-made and entertaining but what is it all about? I see it as a mash-up of the dreams that Hollywood inspires and how they can both come true or turn into nightmares. It doesn't really matter what the names of any of the characters are, and even their roles are interchangeable as yet more aspiring stars arrive to have their dreams put through the mill every day. It could turn out any and all ways for each of them. The obvious character to examine arrives in LA fresh off the plane but even more established characters in Hollywood like the director are being turned inside-out day in, day out all the way through the film. How many of the characters are trying to live their dreams in hope (or dread) of them coming true? There is much more that can be said about the film, and many interesting theories about how the narrative can make sense in a less abstract sense exist, but I don't consider it worthwhile to pursue any of these. Regardless of how the it came into being, it must be considered on its own as a whole film. That is where it falls down: it is so deliberately opaque that it is an affront to the audience and deserves to be treated with a proportionate amount of contempt. Not so much that the film falls below the enjoyable, diverting and watchable - just enough that it doesn't deserve all of the analysis that is has gotten. There are similarities to Sunset Boulevard, but that film is so much more focused, and ultimately has something to say about Hollywood that is tangible and not so deliberately confused as to be worthless.
By all means watch this film, enjoy it, dissect it. There is fun even in the dissection, but I feel that if you do not approach it in the spirit of mockery, you allow the film to make a mockery of you... and perhaps that's what it sees you deserve for being the root cause of all the fakery that results from so many trying to present a pleasing image for some audience or other.