Mistress (1992)

Robert Wuhl stars as a movie director who's got integrity, vision, and a serious script - but no career. Martin Landau is a sleazy producer who introduces Wuhl to Robert De Niro, Danny Aiello and Eli Wallach - three guys with money who are willing to invest in the movie. But with one catch: each one wants his girlfriend to be the star. Putting the deal together and keeping the mistress happy turns into a hilarious expose of the truth about Hollywood. Robert Wuhl, Martin Landau, Robert De Niro, Danny Aiello, Eli Wallach

ENDEARING PORTRAITS THROUGH A CYNICAL LENS, BUT...

As sly takes on the monumental effort it takes to hack it in shark-infested Hollywood, films like 'The Player' or 'The Muse' come to mind. 'Mistress' starts with a similar sardonic view of big league moviemaking, it's even funny in parts, but it fizzles and pops into a run-on potpourri of the Artist's mean, mean plight.

A once-sparkling director from NY is strutting his way in LA making culinary videos. His dream script, about a painter who commits suicide in defense of artistic integrity, looks promising. But bit by painful bit, compromise by disillusioning compromise, he sees investors degenerate it into ludicrous pulp. And so forth.

Let me cut to the chase that the film did not: our protagonist soon realizes, surprise surprise, that a movie production is often about everything but the movie itself; loan sharks looking for the swift buck, mistresses and their shiny upkeep, quid pro quos, ulterior agendas.

Despite convincing performances the movie reeks of conflicting impulses of comedy and drama. The ambiguous title should have been a give away. Some truly provocative moments perk you up, then wilt into sappy cliches.

Folks with an above-average interest in cinema could probably sit this film out on a lazy afternoon, if only for cameos from Robert DeNiro, but it's far from the variety one recommends without reservations. June 6, 2005

Indie filmmaking gets an intelligent send-up

If you want an insider's perpsective on the movie biz, two films that were released in 1992 give a view of the top and the bottom of the Hollywood food chain. "The Player" is a delightful black comedy about the top rung, the major studio insider who has the power to say "yes" just twelve times a year and green-light a big-budget movie (trouble ensues when he murders a particularly troublesome screenwriter). The opposite end of the food chain is lampooned in "Mistress," where we get an insider's view of trying to get an independent film financed. Filmmaking is the most expensive of hobbies, and compromises must be made. Two writers and a washed-up producer get three businessmen on the hook as possible backers, but each has a mistress, who needs a part... It's a delightful exploration of how far can one compromise artistic integrity just to get a story in front of the cameras. Martin Landau is a delight as the has-been producer, and Robert Wuhl is wonderful as the bemused screenwriter whose vision is rewritten into exploitative shlock. Both funny and sad, these are men who have sacrificed everything that matters in pursuit of the Hollywood dream. May 13, 2002

It's about the bimbo... or is it?

Martin Landau ("Ed Wood," "Space 1999") leads a super cast through the ringer as they all try to get a film bankrolled. The connecting thread here is that "the other woman" who most of the potential financiers are boffing - is one and the same bimbo! The most unique angle to "Mistress" is how it refuses to portray the writers, actors, or other normally high-pedestaled creative types, as any more pure, or noble, or reasonable to deal with, than anyone else in this wacky business. September 4, 2000

Nothing but Excellent

I loved Mistress because it portrays the "behind the scenes" of what producing a movie is truly about. I loved Sheryl Lee Ralph in this movie because it portrays what just be me going on in our movie industry. Sheryl is an excellent actress and need to be seen in more excellent movies. Excellent producing/directing on DeNiro's part. January 18, 2000

A brilliant Hollywood comedy

Do not miss this picture! This is the film that blows away all the other "movie industry" comedies of the last few years. If you liked "Swimming with Sharks" or "The Player," you will love "Mistress." Eli Wallach should be on the cover of this DVD along with Wuhl, Landau, De Niro, and Aiello. You couldn't ask for a more perfect cast, and I don't know how Barry Primus brought them all together. The only down side to this DVD release seems to be the 1.33:1 "full screen" image format. I wish they had released this in the theatrical aspect ratio, since I've been wondering what I've missed by seeing only the VHS release. This is a brilliant and subtle comedy for movie fans everywhere. September 16, 1999

More reviews at Amazon.com ...