Hilarion Banks & Scott Fivelson's "industry" melodrama, 3 HOLES AND A SMOKING GUN

Having just recently viewed Maps to the Stars, the knock-out Hollywood satire/ melodrama/black comedy from David Cronenberg and Bruce Wagner, it is probably a bit unfair to compare it in any way to the film that opens this week, 3 HOLES AND A SMOKING GUN. And yet this little melodramatic, would-be black-comic look at screenwriting strivers here in New York City who are bent on taking credit for the creation of what, from the sound of everyone's reactions to it, must be the greatest screenplay ever written (something called, with no great originality, Hijack), is so full of supposed inside-the-industry knowledge, back-stabbing and thievery that comparisons can't be helped.

Written by a fellow named Scott Fivelson and directed by someone else called Hilarion Banks (shown above), this movie is so ridiculously bad in terms of plotting and believability, that it is little wonder its copyright date of 2012 would indicate a certain period of sitting on the shelf, waiting to be released. It is difficult to believe that anyone who viewed the final cut would not have immediately suggested, "Leave it there."  I am not so much knocking the work of Mr. Banks -- which is perfectly standard and OK -- as that of Mr. Fivelson, who has packed his story full of details that seem mostly wrong.

Consider the scene in which a man has been poisoned and sits coughing and dying in his car, in what is certainly one of the "extended death" scenes of all time. A passer-by appears to notice this -- from quite a distance away, at night, and with the car's windows rolled up -- and motions as though he might come and help. Yeah, right.

Or consider the scene in which we meet the actual writer of this great screenplay, who has typed it on an old Remington and neglected to make even a single copy of his script. In this day and age. Yeah, right again. (The actor at left, above, is probably the film's most noted performer, Joaquim de Almeida, who has a small role at the proprietor of a junk shop.)

The movie jumps back and forth in time, to no avail at all, because soon nothing seems remotely real. Nor is it funny or interesting or unusual enough to warrant our attention. The plot concerns a has-been screenwriter, Bobby (James Wilder, above), who now teaches a course in that art here in NYC, and what look initially like his star student, Jack (sexy, cute but so-so acting newcomer Zuher Kahn, below), who soon proves to be an even sleazier sort than his creepy teacher.

The men, it turns out, have shared the love of another student, Sailor (Rebecca Mae Palmer, below), not that this matters one whit -- except to pave the way for another corpse or two.

The film's funniest scene, though again totally unbelievable, concerns a mugger (the very good Rudolf Martin, below), who wants to make off with Jack's valuables but who instead stays to chat.

Well, the location shots are fine, as is the "look" of the film. Otherwise, 3 Holes and a Smoking Gun is little more than an inadequate time-waster.

The movie opens on cable VOD this Friday, March 20, via Comcast, Cox, Dish Network, and Verizon, and from Shaw on Tuesday, March 24. It will also be available for digital streaming on March 24 via Amazon Instant Video, Google, iTunes, Vudu and X-Box. A theatrical premiere will follow in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Music Hall 3 on Friday, March 27. 

In LOITERING WITH INTENT, Michael Godere, Ivan Martin and Adam Rapp create a funny, boisterous world of movies, love and life

A sweet little goof of a film -- filled with all the details of screenwriting, romance, PTSD, family, friends, pets and a weekend in the country -- LOITERING WITH INTENT also sports one of the best titles in a long while, the appropriateness of which becomes all the clearer by movie's end. The product of its writing duo (who co-star), Michael Godere and Ivan Martin, and its director Adam Rapp, LWI (as we'll now call it) also makes room for some very popular and better known inde-pendent actors like Marisa Tomei, Sam Rockwell, Brian Geraghty and Natasha Lyonne. Though these last four alone would make the movie a must-see, LWI turns out to be smart, short, fast-moving fun all on its own.

When two actors (Martin and Godere, above, left and right) whose careers are on "stall" run into to an old friend (Lyonne, below) who knows a producer who has some money to spend on a new independent film, the pair tell her about their screenplay (as yet non-existent) which she says sounds so good that's it's a shoo-in to get that production money. So can you give it to me, please?

Suddenly our boys have to come up with the real screenplay and so they run off to a friend's country house to actually write the thing. (The "writing process," for this pair, is pretty hilarious.) There, they're confronted with everything from lack of creativity to unexpected guests.

The first of these includes Gigi (played by Ms Tomei, above), an old flame of Martin's, and her friend, Ava (played by Isabelle McNally, below), both of whom arouse our boys' libidos while seeming to want to engage in more than mere chat.

Soon another pair arrives -- brothers Wayne and Devon (played by Rockwell, below, and Geraghty), the former of whom has his own vital agenda to conclude. Mr. Rockwell, a past master of low-key, often off-key humor, here plays it mostly serious. Ex-military and suffering from that PTSD, he is, as ever, terrific and keeps us and the movie on our toes, while still becoming part of the excellent ensemble at work here.

Mr. Geraghty (below), on the other hand, is pure goofy joy. What a nimble and versatile young actor this guy is! He imbues Devon -- who has just been given his own "reality" show via Jerry Bruckheimer -- with such a nutty blend of blond, surf-boy machismo coupled to comically fearful homophobia that his every outburst is a high-energy, low-IQ delight.

The fine cast dances around (and often into) each other with skill and smarts. It's a constant pleasure to see them interact, and director Rapp, shown below, has the good sense to simply get out of the way and let his actors loose to frolic.

The whole movie has the look and feel of terrific improvisation, though the script is too often too good to have relied only on that.

How it all turns out has the feel of a nice rom-com, in which the right people do finally connect. In terms of our heroes' goal of screenwriting, even this comes to something a bit different than we might have expected, while remaining every bit as appropriate and entertaining.

Loitering With Intent -- from The Orchard and running a mere 76 minutes  -- opens this Friday, January 16, in New York City at the AMC Empire 25, and in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Music Hall 3.  Elsewhere?  Yes, and the theaters, cities and dates are listed below.

January 16 - Sundance Cinema (Seattle, WA) 

January 16 - Sundance Cinema (Houston, TX) 

January 16 - Cinema Detroit (Detroit, MI) 

January 16 - Shaker Square Cinemas (Cleveland, OH) 

January 16 - Carmike Sundial (St. Petersburg, FL) 

January 23 - Roxie Theater (San Francisco, CA) 

January 30 - Plaza Theatre (Atlanta, GA) 

February 6 - Harkins Shea (Phoenix, AZ)

You can also watch the film digitally 

via iTunes or Amazon Instant Video.