"Ellie Parker": A short stretched long does not a movie make
The best thing that can be said about Scott Coffey's "Ellie Parker" is that it provides a showcase for the bewitching talents of Naomi Watts; then again, David Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" does that, too, and it's actually a good movie to boot. Coffey's film began life as a 2001 short and, alas, probably should have stayed that way. Too often it has the uncomfortable feel of a too-small sweater: stretched to capacity, still not covering the territory.
Ellie Parker, it turns out, is an L.A. actress (played, in not too much of a stretch, by Watts) who drives around a lot — this is, presumably, what all L.A. actresses spend their days doing. She veers from audition to audition, from shrink to acting coach, from agent to faithless boyfriend. Many miles are logged; few insights result. We learn that in L.A., many people pretend to be what they're not, which makes it difficult to be yourself. This is undoubtedly true, but hardly worth spending 94 minutes and all that gas.
"Ellie Parker," with Naomi Watts, Rebecca Rigg, Scott Coffey, Mark Pellegrino, Chevy Chase. Written and directed by Scott Coffey. 94 minutes. Not rated; for mature audiences (contains nudity and sexuality). Varsity.
The resourceful Watts, whose flair for comedy rarely gets shown on screen, almost redeems the whole enterprise, and it's fun watching her changing clothes and makeup in the car (to present exactly the right look to casting directors), scarfing down blue ice cream and doughnuts, and singing along with Blondie. And she shows precise timing on a few very funny bits, including a crying jag that stops immediately when an opportunity presents itself for shopping. But Ellie's life — and particularly the men in it — just isn't very interesting. In the hands of a less-skilled performer, "Ellie Parker" would be unwatchable; even with Watts' lit-up quality, time passes very slowly, and you start to think longingly about getting into your own car and going someplace else.
Coffey sprinkles his film with self-references, as is probably unavoidable in a story of an actress playing an actress. "On digital video, your acting must be very raw," someone tells Ellie, and it's a wink tossed to the art-house audience — which knows, of course, that "Ellie Parker" is made on harsh-looking digital video.
Ultimately, though, the movie is all about Ellie, and thus all about Watts; she's the only character who registers (though Chevy Chase appears in a rather sweet cameo as Ellie's manager) and the only face we're glad to see. You can understand why Watts made the original short in 2001 (before "Mulholland Drive" raised her visibility level in Hollywood), but it's not clear why she or anyone wanted to make this version. Yes, it reminds us that Watts is a bravura actress, but that's old news, deserving of a better showcase.
Moira Macdonald: 206-464-2725 or mmacdonald@seattletimes.com