The Adventure Begins!

I headed for Hollywood and the American Film Institute's 2000 Fest to see "Looking For Jimmy" on Sunday night, October 22, 2000. I turned onto Hollywood Boulevard and realized that I had made a mistake. I was near the Chinese Theatre and they were holding the premier of "Charlie's Angels." There were fans lining the boulevard and traffic everywhere. Fortunately, I didn't have far to drive and found the Egyptian Theatre right were it was the last time I left it.

There were lots of people milling about the big reception room at the front of the theatre complex. After picking up my ticket, I headed down a series of walled stairs and ramps that reminded me of catacombs, despite all the red paint. I finally found myself outside the door to the Spielberg Theatre. There were just a few people inside, so I got to pick a good seat right in the middle.

The screening room is small. There were fourteen seats to a row and only five rows, with a few seats behind them. After a few minutes, an AFI lady taped off three of the rows, including mine. I have no idea why.

A couple of minutes after that, as more people arrived, I looked up and saw an unshaven Billy Wirth dressed in skateboard chic. He and his two friends took seats in the second row, just two rows ahead of me. Billy was wearing a blue wool cap with his hair sticking out in the back. He wore a black vest and a long-sleeved black T-shirt underneath. As I later found out, this was Billy's first viewing of the movie, as well as ours.

The tape on our row was finally taken down as there were no other empty seats. That was fine with me because I was sitting out there in the middle of nowhere and felt a bit conspicuous.

Julie Delpy arrived with Emily and Andrew Wagner, her two co-filmmakers. Our AFI host introduced the three creators and Julie Delpy made an opening statement. She explained that they used a digital format and filmed over a 24-hour period where they only stopped filming to change the canisters. Some of the actors' work was unscripted, while other actors had only an outline of their character. Still others had scripted scenes, as well as improvisation. Ms. Delpy joked that she was going to show us the whole 24-hour film, but then thought that maybe she'd just let us see the 84-minute version.

Then the lights went down and we settled back for a new kind of film experience.

"Looking For Jimmy" is a tragicomedy mock documentary which begins at a birthday party for "V" (Emily Wagner). Her friends are all there in her little backyard. V's brother, Ernie, is filming the party for their parents. Ernie and his camera are almost one character in the film. V's friend, Al (Julie Delpy) is in a state of anxiety because her boyfriend, Jimmy, has not shown up.

Al is calling everyone she can think of who knows Jimmy, but has no luck locating him.

Al and V set out to search for Jimmy. They start at his house where they find that all of his possessions are gone except for a book and a stuffed frog.

The ladies hit the road, visiting more and more people in their search, including a talent agent who was to meet with Jimmy. There are several show biz types hanging out. Al brings out the only photo she has of Jimmy and it's completely out of focus. You can't see one feature on his face. The agent's assistant takes the picture to photocopy in B & W, no less. Then, as they are leaving one of the agent types tells Al, "Don't worry, we'll sign him. They can't even FIND him!!!

The ladies find themselves following shakier and shakier leads. They meet an actor named Billy (Billy Wirth) and they participate in a hypnotic-type actor's exercise with him and his friend.

Billy does a wonderful job playing a young actor hustling parties and parts. He is today's hippie with a fuzzy understanding of eastern philosophies. Billy is so natural in this role that people could be forgiven for thinking that the character on the screen is Billy Wirth. I am happy to say that, from my limited experience, they would be wrong. Billy pulls off this subtly humorous character with total believability.

Emily Wagner is wonderful in these scenes. She's funny and touching at the same time.

After that diversion, our little band of film makers turns up at a party at a house in the Valley. There's an Irish band playing in one room and in another room, they find Billy with two guitarists playing and singing. Billy is holding a microphone, but he never actually sings. There's a song on the credits that was written by Billy and Steven Constantino, so I imagine that was the snippet of song we heard. Too bad we didn't hear more. The ladies moved on to more parties, but end up in Joshua Tree in the desert for a rave. They drive to the site, but there's no one there. Billy realizes that the rave is the following weekend. So, they frolic in the desert and watch the sun come up. Billy does some funny tai chi-type of movements on top of a big rock. There is a lot of humor in this movie as well as some pretty insightful glimpses into the characters' deeper selves. Julie Delpy plays Al perfectly. Al is one of those self-centered people who constantly have to have everyone else' attention. She's not obnoxious with it, but I'm sure we've all met people like her. She's self-absorbed; but she's still likeable.

I thought that the movie was a bit too long, even at 84 minutes. I felt myself wondering what time it was for the last 10-15 minutes of the feature. That's not a good thing.

The photography was of the "up close, checking out the pores on everyone's faces" variety. I didn't really care for that, especially when "Ernie" was swinging the camera around at the party at the beginning of the film. It was threatening to make me dizzy, but then they slowed down the camera action and the feeling passed.

After the film, Julie Delpy and Emily Wagner conducted a very interesting Q & A session. Emily is very enthused about digital technology and urged everyone to come to the digital forum to be held three days later. Ms. Delpy has translated and written French captions and has a small French distributor for the film. So, some people in France may have the opportunity to see it. But, for the rest of us, there are no plans at this time.

The film makers were very pleased with the turnout and the reception. The film was a last-minute replacement, so they were very happy to see a filled theatre.

Afterwards, I walked over to Billy and introduced myself. He remembered me. He's such a nice guy. He asked me how I was and what was new with me. He never should have asked me THAT! I mean, I'm STILL buzzing about my Fish experience last month, so I proceeded to tell Billy about a wonderful SAS Band gig at the Troubadour Club in West Los Angeles and he stood there smiling and listening like he was interested. I told him that one of the singers, my friend, Fish, has been encouraging me to write, again. I used to write for music magazines, but I became disenchanted with that. So, I am now back to writing, again. I then apologized for going on about something he probably didn't really care about. The man is very gracious.

We chatted about "Looking For Jimmy." It's on video right now, which explains why there were square pixels evident at times during the film. They're going to transfer the movie to film. That'll probably make the actors look better because video does tend to make things look bigger, like any facial imperfections.

Billy told me the he is still editing "MacArthur Park." He said that he never thought it would take this long, but it took Julie six months to edit "Jimmy."

He filmed "Reunion" and it was a fun experience for him. Both that and "MacArthur Park" were submitted to Sundance--the Utah event; not the online one. He feels pretty sure that "MacArthur Park" will be accepted.

Billy's computer is still sitting on his floor. It's an old one of his brother's and he thinks that he probably needs a bigger processor to get on the Internet. He is becoming more and more interested in the Internet and all the possibilities it holds. It's just that he has no time for everything he needs to do. I'm sure we all know that feeling too well. He is very impressed with Cyn and Max's site and has gotten some photos and other stuff together to get off to them for the site.

The theater had emptied out and we were the only two left inside.

Billy impressed me, once again, as a very friendly, polite, down-to-earth guy. The man is very approachable and he seemed like he could have talked to me all night. He appeared to be genuinely interested in what I had to say.

Finally, it was time for me to go. We shook hands as I told Billy that it was good to see him, again, and departed.

It was good fun seeing Billy, again, and to be honest, I really didn't think he'd be there, so it was a very nice suprise. It's always nice to meet a celebrity who regards himself as just a normal person. How refreshing!

(c) 2000 Susan Alexander