Full Frontal (2002)

User Rating:

4.9/10   

Director:

Steven Soderbergh

Writer:

Coleman Hough (written by)

Release Date:

20 September 2002 (Italy)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

Everybody Needs A Release

Plot:

A day in the life of a group of men and women in Hollywood, in the hours leading up to a friend's birthday party.

Plot Keywords:

Birthday Party | Interracial Relationship | Massage | Autoerotic Asphyxiation | Sequel

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

David Duchovny	...	Bill / Gus
Nicky Katt	...	Hitler
Catherine Keener	...	Lee
Brian Krow	...	Bellboy
Mary McCormack	...	Linda
David Hyde Pierce	...	Carl
Julia Roberts	...	Catherine / Francesca
Blair Underwood	...	Nicholas / Calvin
Enrico Colantoni	...	Arty / Ed
Erika Alexander	...	Lucy
Tracy Vilar	...	Heather
Brandon Keener	...	Francesca's Assistant
Jeff Garlin	...	Harvey, Probably
David Alan Basche	...	Nicholas' Agent
Terence Stamp	...	Man on Plane / Himself

Also Known As:

How to Survive a Hotel Room Fire (USA) (working title)
The Art of Negotiating a Turn (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated R for language and some sexual content.

Runtime:

101 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

DTS | Dolby Digital | SDDS

Certification:

Iceland:12 | USA:R (certificate #38888) | Portugal:M/12 | Argentina:16 | Australia:MA | Brazil:14 | Finland:K-11 | France:U | Germany:12 | Hong Kong:IIB | Netherlands:AL | New Zealand:R16 | Norway:A | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:11 | Switzerland:12 (canton of Geneva) | Switzerland:12 (canton of Vaud) | UK:18

Filming Locations:

Beverly Blvd. at Vista, Fairfax, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

Steven Soderbergh pays homage to his own film, The Limey (1999). In one of the airplane scenes, Blair Underwood turns around and sees Wilson (Terence Stamp) doing a scene from The Limey (1999). Also, Soderbergh has David Fincher making fun of his own movies by having him shoot 49 takes of one line, a typical Fincher trademark.

Goofs:

Continuity: Catherine's black notebook and pen suddenly appear on the airplane armrest between shots, after her tape player clicks.

Quotes:

[from the trailer]
Carl: You can't pretend that you are having sex with someone, when you are actually having sex with them.

Movie Connections:

References Le mépris (1963)

Soundtrack:

Diane L

American's don't like character studies.

You give our modern day audience Citizen Kane and most people would hate it. Call it boring and that it goes no where and nothing happens. Basically what they say about Full Frontal (I'm not saying full frontal = citizen kane).

Anyway, I downloaded this film and watched it on valentine's day night by myself. I don't know if it was the freedom to feel emotions that that wouldn't come as easily with other people with me, or that I'm a wannabe filmmaker...but this film really hit me.

I'm trying to figure out why I liked it, and I'm leaning toward the way it strongly attempts to portray realism. From the distinct and well acted characters to the constant cutting, it was real easy for me to understand the characters and feel what they were going through.

But that doesn't mean you'll like it. Generally, as a rule, I've found American audiences don't like character-study based movies. Which this is. Another example would be the Talented Mr. Ripley (though, there's also some homophobia that played against that one as well).

Never the less; creative, original, like an indie movie but with high-budget talent. Worth seeing if you can stand a flick without empty super models chased by 1 line spouting, bullet dodging, sex machines...