In The Soup
Picture: C+ Sound: B- Extras: C+ Film: C+
I appreciate anytime an independent film gets made. It is not easy getting anything made about
something when it is not about selling Happy Meals. Alexandre Rockwell is a director who has been independent for a
while and his 1991 feature debut In The Soup is yet another tale of
someone trying to get into filmmaking.
This involves the lost soul Adolfo (Steve Buscemi) who wants to make
film. Nothing seems like it will work,
until Joe (Seymour Cassel) shows up and is crazy enough to try and help him.
This is a film that attempts to be a comedy, but is never
funny, while the comments about film and the industry are tired and so played
out. Though the late, great carol Kane
appears, she is not here enough. Will
Patton, Stanley Tucci, Sam Rockwell, the underrated Debi Mazar and even Jim
Jarmusch co-star, but it is Jennifer Beals who steals the show as the Hispanic
neighbor who steals Adolfo’s heart and becomes his cinematic muse. Still remembered for Flashdance back
in 1983 and a better acting talent than ever given credit for, this should have
re-ignited her career, but it was too buried in the obvious.
There is a lack of chemistry between Buscemi and Cassel
that should have existed. The film
never finds its point and the comedy is one-note. Too bad, because this is a great cast, but the script does not
know what to do with them. The film’s
distinction is that it was shot in color, but released in black and white,
which still has a color gray scale throughout regardless. The anamorphically enhanced 1.78 x 1 version
here is nicely transferred, but that color/monochrome issue is annoying to
watch throughout. To Fantoma’s credit,
this looks as good as it can on DVD.
The sound is here in Dolby Digital 5.1 and is the
highlight of the disc, sounding good for such a low-budget independent
production. Extras include three
commentary tracks: Cassel solo, Alex Rockwell solo, and Rockwell with other
cast members. Beals does a good
on-camera interview, plus you get extra scenes, bloopers, a gag piece on the
Cha Cha repeated as a chart in the sleeve found in the DVD case, and some “home
movies” of the production.
A winner at Sundance, the film has a cult following and is
good at burying itself in the independent film world, yet too often feels like
boutique product from a mini-major or boutique unit of a major. In The Soup is not for everyone, but
you may want to venture a look at it just the same to make sure.
- Nicholas Sheffo
