I'll Do Anything
Tags: satire

Plot synopsis:
In 1980, on the night he fails to win an Emmy Award, Matt Hobbs proposes to his longtime girlfriend Beth. He says the only thing holding him back is his dedication to his career, one which may not always work out, and Beth says that's one of the things she loves most about him. Little more than a year later, with a baby crying and no job for Matt, Beth is overflowing with resentment. By 1993, the pair have been divorced for several years and are living on opposite coasts. Matt auditions for a role in pompous, self-absorbed, and clueless film producer Burke Adler's new project but fails to get the part. He does however agree to chauffeur Adler occasionally. Matt flies to Georgia to pick up his daughter Jeannie for what he believes is a brief visit and discovers Beth is facing a prison term and Jeannie will be living with him for the duration of her sentence. The two return to Hollywood and struggle with their new circumstances and building a relationship (Matt hasn't seen the six-year-old since she was four). When Matt goes in to make a screen test for a lead in a film, he leaves Jeannie with a friend at the studio, and when he picks her up he's stunned to learn she's been cast in a sitcom. There are multiple sub-plots, including one focusing on Matt's relationship with staff script-reader Cathy Breslow and another concerning test screening analyst Nan Mulhanney and her tumultuous relationship with Adler.

Review: This movie has really got the "Brooks Touch" and that's a very good thing.
Like AS GOOD AS IT GETS and the even better, but overall largely underrated TERMS OF ENDEARMENT, this again is a wonderful story about real people.
And when Brooks is in the director's seat, you know this film isn't going to take the easy way.
I can only recommend this movie, especially because of the many lovely moments and the excellent dialogue.
The actors are very good too, especially Nick Nolte, Joely Richardson and the young Whittni Wright(who is wonderful).
They're not the really big names, like in the two aforementioned movies, but they did a very good job.
Also look out for the character played by Albert Brooks, which is very familiar with Jack Nicholson's character in AS GOOD AS IT GETS.
Brooks, who keeps delivering the goods with his original and always fresh romantic comedies.
This is a movie about making movies and standing up for your beliefs and not having to bow down under the pressures of audience expectations and studio involvements, and it had musical numbers which were cut and writers come in to dumb it down because of audience expectations and studio involvements.But I found all that out after I first saw the movie and thought it was great entertainment.
I love Nick Nolte, he's so grave and gruff and depressed that I hope he doesn't kill himself cause I really like everything he's done, even The Hulk, and especially Affliction and that Martin Short with a kid movie.
Julie Kavner and James Brooks are great.
I highly recommend this film, and hope to see it again soon on DVD with all of the deleted scenes..
Writer & Director James L Brooks has a very sure touch when it comes to movies.
A parody of actor's lifestyles and film clichés.Test audiences were not impressed with the film and at the time musicals were out of fashion.I presume the songs were actually rubbish which tends to be the case with a lot of musical films.Re-cut and re-edited, this is now a straight story with Nick Nolte, playing Matt Hobbs, a once promising actor who has not managed to get a regular acting gig in some time.
He ends up driving around an arrogant film producer (Albert Brooks.)Things take a turn when his ex-wife dumps their daughter Jeannie on Matt for what he thinks is for a few weeks but turns out to be longer as she is off to jail.Matt's daughter is used to getting her own way and he is not used to fatherhood.Matt's career may have some brightness as he gets friendly with with an attractive production assistant (Joely Richardson) who has a script idea and thinks Matt could be the lead actor.The film was hampered from the start with its production troubles.
Nick Nolte does well as a down on his luck actor with a brat of a daughter and trying to bond with her while dealing with machinations of the film industry.James L Brooks succeeded so well when he turned his eye on TV news with Broadcast News.
The story here is not strong enough and although the actors try hard the film comes off as hollow..
I LOVED THIS MOVIE.
This is one of those 'greater than the sum of its parts' movie, where you can't quite put your finger on why it's so great, but it just is.
The set of this movie must've motivated these actors to beyond their usual performances..........maybe because the script is so great(they all get their shots at character development.....
I can think of 5.)       There's Nick Nolte, I've never DISliked him, but his physique combined with his sweet fatherly attitude makes for the perfect combination; it makes him very attractive.
Joely Richardson I've only seen in one other movie, but she keeps you interested in her character all the way through, however quirky, weird, or whimsical.
Nolte's daughter (Wright) is SO believable as the spoiled little rich girl, brought up by man-hater Tracy Ullman (!)'s character as mom.
The two other characters are supporting; one is that lady who does Marge Simpson's voice, and her love interest.
Nick Nolte must cry in a room full of people withOUT the director even being there, a group of ladies who work in casting  are asked, when deciding yay-or nay on this actor, if they would sleep with him.
But in the end, it stays true to its source, meaning it doesn't look completely down at Hollywood or anything else.
It's just a really adorable feel-good movie.Did I mention adorable?-Sep. Nick Nolte and THAT KID are terrific!.
Although I found the movie a bit frenetic, it seemed to have a ring of truth about how things work in Hollywood (especially the "Would you sleep with him?" scene).
Nick Nolte keeps everything going, as usual, with his marvelous acting.
Is there any other "big guy" actor who can cry believably (well, maybe Harrison Ford)?
He was just terrific, so believable as the father who didn't know what to do with his spoiled brat daughter.
I can only hope that was acting, as I've seen plenty of kids just like her.
It was hard to pinpoint what there was about this movie that made it not quite so good as it could have been.
Perhaps it was that it really was an "in-house" film, one that anyone who has been through what the various characters have could identify with, but perhaps not us out in the hinterlands (coming from Wyoming to Australia, I'm definitely hinterland!).
Kudos to actors and director for keeping this film together.
I saw this movie recently on cable TV and liked it a lot .
The supporting actors were excellent and Nick Nolte & Whittni Wright were outstanding in their roles.
I give this flick a high mark and hope that my participation in the "vote" will raise the average score of this fine movie.
For those who have had their fill of movies that focus on violence, try this delightful James L Brooks production for a change of pace.
Or if you simply want to watch a movie that entertains...
Humorous movie with Excellent characters.
This is an excellent movie with interesting, well-drawn characters, especially that of complicated little girl.
Nolte gives one of his great performances as the sensitive actor-father.
This movie didn't get the attention it deserved when it came out, because it had become known that it was originally planned as a musical, but the musical numbers were cut out after audience testing  --  which was ironic, since the movie had many references to audience-testing movies.
They could have turned all that on its ear by having a closing-credits sequence with the producers audience testing the movie and deciding to PUT IN musical numbers, and then running excerpts of the excised musical numbers.
The critics would have been confused as to whether it had really ever been planned to be a musical in the first place, and it would have brilliantly augmented the subject-matter of the movie..
This film could have been shot in a month, since everything in it had a freshness and spontaneity that can only come when nothing is labored.
I don't know the film world, but this seemed genuine, with the characters each with their own struggles.Nick Nolte's relation with his "difficult" daughter was something to enjoy.
When his hopes were raised to get the big role, only to find out it wasn't going to happen, devastation, closing the door and crying in the bathroom, was what could be expected.We only get so many chances in life, and when we miss one that very well could be our last, our life is altered irretrievable.
Nothing could be more real, whether it is getting a movie part or a promotion to manager at Walmart.And the six year old who played his daughter, recruited from a clogging class in Georgia from a working class family.
She was just a normal little girl, not a child actress, but someone who fit perfectly.
And she went back to Georgia and then on to a local College to study Business Administration.Somehow, this film received a low rating here and apparently was a box office failure, yet every written comment was of the vein of this one, laudatory.
Perhaps that was the subplot of the film exemplified by its lack of success.Brooks producer character made his films with loud explosions and tested it as a product to satisfy an audience.
This film was a rare treat, but would never been made by Brooks, or anyone else apparently.But this one got through, and is a pleasure for those who can appreciate it..
lazy Sunday afternoon, and Contact was playing on TNT for the 50th 'premiere' time, so I figured, what the heck.And actually, it's kinda interesting I thought.
Nick Nolte and kids are always terminally cute for some reason (ref.
He's like like a big St. Bernard dog.Anyway, the story is OK, losta phony LA movie folks earnestly searching for themselves, blah, blah, blah.
We enjoyed this movie.
It was nicely paced, the plight of the single barely-employed father suddenly faced with the daughter he had not seen for 2 years and must now care for was credible, and the several sub-plots were well done, in places quite witty.
Child actress should have become a star; great story.
Not usually a fan of Nick Nolte, I thought he was great in this.Even more, Julie Kavner was GREAT in this.
She was so charming, so eye- catching, so ear-catching, she would have been considered the movie- stealer if little Whittni Wright hadn't been there.That child was absolutely astonishing.
With no previous movie experience, she carried out her role as if she had done it a hundred times.
I hope she changes her (still young) mind and returns to film.Albert Brooks is one of my entertainment heroes, and his role here is different for him -- and he too is great.There is a sweetness -- and I don't mean sugariness -- in this film that could make it worth watching even with a lesser cast, but with such a strong and lovable bunch, it is an almost perfect movie..
angry Nick Nolte not inherently funny.
Matt Hobbs (Nick Nolte) is a working actor unable to get good gigs.
His professional life is diminished by the likes of arrogant producer Burke Adler (Albert Brooks) who ropes him into being his driver.
His wife leaves their daughter Jeannie (Whittni Wright) with him even thought he hasn't seen her in 2 years.
He's attracted to like-minded production assistant Cathy Breslow (Joely Richardson).Nick Nolte has an angry intensity.
I think James L Brooks is looking for that odd couple with a gruff old guy and a little girl.
I get it but it's the anger in him and quite frankly the little girl that makes it hard to laugh at.
The little girl has a streak of meanness in her.
She's not just the quintessential cute little girl.
She's yelling for the first half of the movie.
The duo has their cute moments but not any funny moments.Albert Brooks has some funny moments but he doesn't really fit the stereotype of a Hollywood producer.
It would be very interesting to see the original cut of this movie, which was a musical but had its songs cut out after a test audience indicated that the songs in the movie were terrible.
(I'm surprised that not even a bootleg of this cut has leaked out.) I will entertain the possibility that the songs were indeed bad and that the movie was improved by the reworking.
But as it is, the movie isn't particularly successful.
It does have some interesting behind- the-scenes moments that show the working of the Hollywood machine behind the curtains, and the performances aren't that bad.
However, the movie can't seem to make up its mind whether it is a comedy or a drama.
Also, the key relationship in the movie - between the Nick Nolte character and his daughter - seems for the most part not very in-depth, so much so that the emotional ending doesn't seem deserved.
The kind of slow pace of the movie as well as its length (almost two hours) doesn't help matters.
When I watched this movie I had two questions in my head:1) Where have I seen her (Joely Richardson) before?
2) Why is Nick Nolte doing this part, and not Ted Danson?The answer to Q1) is not so very interesting, but it is 101 Dalmatians.
It seemed like Nick Nolte was trying to look and act like Ted Danson, especially in the beginning (when the character was young).
And normally the original is better than the copy.Besides those two questions I think the movie was OK entertainment, but not more than that.
The film is not trying to tell us something.
Fair enough.Don't spend your money buying this film, but watch it if it gets aired on a TV..
Summation / Review.
One of Nolte's best roles i'd say.
She apparently only made one other film (Van Damme's "sudden death" the following year).
I heard that the film was originally a musical.
Later it was then chopped down to cut the musical numbers totally out aside from a short song by Whittni to her dad.
Still works as a nice father daughter get to know each other story mixed with the chronicles of an on the cusp of fame actor.
As they get to know each other the daughter shows a dramatic prowess that impresses her actor dad, and moves another character to nudge her into the business.
Would love to see the missing musical numbers at some point.
Is this summation long enough yet?.
I probably wouldn't be able to find one other person that I know that has seen this movie.
But that doesn't say anything about the film, which I think is obnoxiously cute.
The little girl Jeanie is SO wise in her youth, she's this typical spoiled, wild child that is left with this man (Nick Nolte) that she doesn't know and acts the way she should (which is mostly why I like the movies so much) It's realistic in it's portrayal of her.
It's one of those movies that I only see when it comes on UPN Sunday mornings (which I believe another commented on ha-ha) but it's true.
Don't look for too much to happen during it, it's a flat plot but full of really good characters and nice crying scenes for the girls ha-ha..
Spoilers herein.There's a remarkably intelligent film hidden in here.
I love watching old Welles films and trying to imagine the parts that the studios hacked out.
The original idea was to have a deeply self-aware film, moreso than `The Player.' It was to have leveraged the shift inherent in a film musical : at some times, the audience is invited to see the story as representative of life, and at other times as representative of a show.
But (as with Welles), the studio financiers thought the paying audience was too dumb for all that, so brought in script doctor Elaine May (She of `Ishtar,' but nonetheless famously valuable as an invisible fixer).She straightened this film out so that a moron could understand it.
Now it is not about the film business, but an ordinary sop about a dad discovering his precocious daughter.
But you can see the joints where clever stuff might have been and the notion that parenting is a performance.They have kept one memorable Nolte moment.
Watch how he changes, and also plays the meta-actor managing that change, and at the same time plays Nolte creating all three.
It is his finest moment on film.
I wonder if we will ever see the original version?Ted's Rating -- 2 of 4: Has some interesting elements..
A gem, despite its shortcomings - *possible spoilers*.
This is one of those movies that I have grown to love almost inspite of itself.
Yes, it's haphazard and kind of all over the place, and yet I am compelled to watch it through to the end whenever it plays on the telly.
I can't quite figure out how well the characters are actually written, but they are played so beautifully that it really doesn't matter.
I've always liked Nick Nolte but he's never been one of my 'favourites'.
When I saw this film though, he completely won me over: he's selfish yet tender, brusque yet warm - just a wonderful, brave performance.
It's also great to see Julie 'Marge Simpson' Kavner on the screen, she's severely underused by Hollywood - a great talent (remember 'Radio Days'?) And by the way, the film is about much more than an errant father mending his ways and changing his attitude toward his neglected kid, it's about a man unsure of his own worth finally changing his attitude toward HIMSELF.
Excellent Fillm, Nolte at His Best.
I've been a Nick Nolte fan ever since his "Rich Man Poor Man" days.
"I'll Do Anything" is a big studio film with a sensitvity and quality OF performance I usually expect only in "art house" films.It's a character study of a struggling actor (Nolte) forced to come to grips with his life, career, and destiny after many factors like children/responsibility, age (mid-life crisis), relationships and values come to an intersection, and Nolte's character is forced to re-evaluate the way he lives in order to keep his sanity.
The story is fueled by the insane film industry against which it is set.
It's a crazy story presented with great warmth.People who would love it: couples or groups of women especially, but anyone looking for a heart breaking comedy.
Lots to discuss after the film such as plot, performances, values that affect the characters' livessuch as kids vs career, career vs romance, art vs material success, responsibility vs dreams, and on and on.Have a party.