Showboy
With dry humor, the mockumentaryShowboyturns a portrait in  self-delusion into the pursuit of a dream. A British documentarian wants  to make a short movie about Christian Taylor, a writer on the cable seriesSix Feet Under--only she arrives just as Christian is abruptly  fired while the show is shooting in Las Vegas. Humiliated and depressed,  Christian stays in Vegas and starts pursuing jobs as a chorus boy; he  tells the documentarian that he's doing research for a screenplay.Showboyplays its cards very close to the chest; the agents, dance  teachers, and casting directors that Christian meets with could well be  genuine--the deadpan performances never wink at the camera. The humor  springs from a mixture of embarrassing awkwardness and the fundamental  absurdity of life in Las Vegas. With cameos by Whoopi Goldberg, Siegfried  and Roy, and Alan Ball (creator ofSix Feet Under).--Bret  Fetzer