Rating summary

Movie		2.0
Video		2.0
Audio		2.5
Extras		0.0
Overall		1.5

Jimmy Hollywood Blu-ray Movie Review

A meandering look at the life of a disillusioned actor in Hollywood.

Reviewed by Dustin Somner July 22, 2010

Writer/director Barry Levinson has amassed an unusual filmography during his Hollywood career. Beginning with his directorial outing on the film Diner (earning him an Oscar nomination for the screenplay he wrote), Levinson went on to direct The Natural, Good Morning, Vietnam, Rainman, and Bugsy, earning him a Best Director Oscar (Rainman) and a follow-up nomination (Bugsy). Riding high on a wave of success that carried him for nearly ten years, the director’s next two outings proved far less successful, culminating in his career low with Jimmy Hollywood (earning a miserable three million take during its domestic theatrical run). As the saying goes, everyone has an off-day every now and then, making it easier to forgive the director for missteps such as Toys or Jimmy Hollywood. However, despite Levinson’s early success, I’m sure he was a little worried that one more mistake might drastically shorten his career. Thankfully, he turned things around with the subsequent release of Sleepers, Sphere, and Wag the Dog, but I don’t believe he ever returned to the state of film mastery found in his heyday.

Presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Lionsgate (Paramount sold the rights to the film), up-and-coming film buffs are finally given the opportunity to decide for themselves if Jimmy Hollywood deserves the harsh assessment it’s received over the years, and ponder the message Levinson attempted to convey in the story.

Val Kilmer could pull of the long blonde hair...Joe Pesci not so much...

Jimmy Alto (Joe Pesci) fancies himself an actor with immense talent despite a lengthy career of failed casting calls and shattered dreams (as an example, he believes he was passed over for the part of Cliff on “Matlock” because he showed up Andy Griffith during his audition). Spending his days mooching off his hairdresser girlfriend (Victoria Abril) and sitting by the pool outside his rundown apartment, Jimmy isn’t exactly the poster-child for motivation. His only real friend in life is a cognitively challenged young man named William (Christian Slater), who acts as Jimmy’s main confidant in his quest for stardom, and supports his every whim. Unable to comprehend why his acting career hasn’t taken off after the creation of a bench billboard marketing his acting services, Jimmy hits his boiling point as he walks outside his apartment one morning to find his car window broken and his beloved car stereo missing. Hell-bent on catching the perpetrator, Jimmy enlists the aid of William as his cameraman, and begins his own brand of vigilante justice. His actions soon gain traction in the local media, but Jimmy remains frustrated by the lack of respect he’s received as a hopeful actor, wishing he could reveal himself as the justice-seeking champion of the people and bask in the recognition that might accompany the public revelation. With the police hot on his trail and a head full of go-for-broke movie scenes, Jimmy embarks on journey he believes will lead to a blaze of glory, knowing he must do everything it takes to become the king of Hollywood.

Jimmy Hollywood is a tough film to judge, since Levinson clearly intended to touch on something deep and meaningful, yet never managed to hit the mark. Is the character of Jimmy meant to be an alternate take on the Bruce Wayne/Batman complex, showing what it would be like to have a vigilante who starves for attention? Is the story meant as a dark comedy making fun of Hollywood’s wannabe acting community? Was Levinson using the film as a commentary on the lost glamour of a city that once stood as the shining beacon of American entertainment? These questions and more rise to the surface during Jimmy Hollywood, but the point of the film is simply never established. I’m not saying everything should be tied up in a nice, neat bow, but the aimless path of the entire production soon follows the aimless path of its protagonist, until you reach the point where you simply don’t care. After all, when the main character is as obnoxious and off-putting as Jimmy, it becomes difficult to root for him or anyone else who enables such reckless behavior.

The other major problem with Jimmy Hollywood is the casting for the film. Joe Pesci made a name for himself over the years by playing the token jerk with small-man syndrome, so this is hardly stretching his abilities. He’s certainly good at what he does, but I’m accustomed to him playing a supporting role in most films, which usually cuts down on the annoying element in his role. In the case of Jimmy Hollywood, Pesci remains front and center from the opening scene to the closing credits, placing immense weight on shoulders that can’t carry that type of burden. Victoria Abril helped pick up the slack in her role as Jimmy’s girlfriend, but the fact that she continually returns to a man who’s so mentally clouded and emotionally distant simply paints her in a weak light. This shouldn’t be a knock on her acting skills, since she’s often the primary beacon of continual talent throughout the film, but I felt bad watching her fight an uphill battle against a role that rarely tests her skills. Finally we come to Christian Slater and his portrayal of Jimmy’s friend William. After directing the amazingly talented Dustin Hoffman in Rainman, I find it baffling that Levinson cast Christian Slater in a role he’s destined to fail at. We’ve all witnessed the typical acting style of Slater over the years, so asking him to reign in that sense of enthusiasm in order to play a young man with mental dysfunction is like asking a hummingbird not to fly. The end result is an uncomfortable performance that has Slater appearing just as bewildered as the audience, as we all try to figure out what’s supposedly wrong with this guy (finally addressed in the epilogue just before the credits). To be clear, I’m not saying the actors in the film are entirely to blame for the weaknesses in Jimmy Hollywood (the casting director and screenplay deserve plenty of credit as well), but they don’t exactly salvage the production either.

Jimmy Hollywood Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in 1080p utilizing the AVC codec (at an average bitrate of 24Mbps), Jimmy Hollywood lumbers onto Blu-ray with the precision of a drunk elephant. I have no idea if the theatrical presentation appeared this weak back in 1994, but viewing the film 16 years after its initial release, it becomes painfully clear that Jimmy Hollywood needs a restoration. Had the film earned a cult following in the years since its release, I'd imagine Lionsgate may have donated the money and effort to apply some level of clean-up, but considering it should almost be viewed as charity they released this in the first place, we really can't expect much. Fine object detail never registers anywhere close to the level we're accustomed to on a 1080p transfer, though daytime outdoor sequences at least come close. At its worst, texture-obscuring haze completely wipes away all depth within the image, delivering results that barely surpass the quality of an upconverted DVD transfer. The color spectrum doesn't register much better, continuing with the theme of wild inconsistency. Reds appear blown out, hues change from scene to scene, and even at its finest, the color palette seems overly drab. Black levels appear a bit stronger than most other elements in the transfer, but there are still several nighttime shots that suffer from black crush, unable to separate darker shades in the foreground and background. Finally, one of the most distracting elements in the visual presentation is the presence of print damage and heavy film grain, which often became noticeable enough to be distracting.

Taken as a whole, this is one of the weaker presentations I've witnessed on the Blu-ray format, leaving little reason to upgrade from the prior DVD release.

Jimmy Hollywood Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Registering marginally better than the visual presentation, the lossless audio mix acquires its own set of highs and lows worth mentioning. Beginning with the positives, you'll notice adequate clarity within each element in the mix, establishing a solid foundation on the dialog-heavy track. This heightened clarity extends into several robust sequences as well, allowing the piercing crunch of metal-on-metal to emerge from a car chase, and pushing the crack of bullets into prominence during the shootout dream sequence. Unfortunately, at the heart of the mix are several weaknesses that drag the overall audio experience south, offsetting the previously mentioned strengths in the process. The first problem (and most significant), is the front-heavy nature of the mix, which rarely offers anything more than appetizers from the rear channels. Even during sequences when the music or sound effects move from the background to the foreground (becoming the dominant element in the mix), they still reside almost entirely within the forward sound stage, and leave a dismal sense of immersion in their wake. Adding to the primary problems, we have dialog volume levels that appear a bit weak in comparison with the soundtrack and environmental effects, requiring ear-strain to make out certain lines. It's never bad enough to force a volume adjustment on your receiver, but considering the portion of the film dedicated solely to dialog, I couldn't help but feel a bit underwhelmed.

Jimmy Hollywood Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

The only supplement included on the disc is a generic Blu-ray segment from Lionsgate, marketing their other titles on the format.

Jimmy Hollywood Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Jimmy Hollywood has plenty of under-the-surface ambition, but the end result is a sloppy, meandering affair. Most fans of Levinson's work will view this as one of his weakest directorial outings, since his typical sure-handed nature seems entirely absent from most elements of the film. Perhaps he switched on autopilot or simply lost interest partway through, but I'd wager this is a project he'd prefer to forget about (and I'll do the same). From a technical standpoint I found this newly minted Blu-ray edition subpar on many levels, making it easy to relegate this to the "not recommended" category. There are simply too many other Blu-rays that deserve a spot in your collection to recommend an offering with little replay value (though I'll readily admit the price is right).