Fired! (2007)

Directors:

Chris Bradley
Kyle LaBrache

Writer:

Annabelle Gurwitch

Genre:

Documentary | Comedy

Tagline:

Getting Fired By Woody Allen Was Just The Beginning

Plot:

Annabelle Gurwitch's first-person take on getting the axe.

Cast

Stephen Adly Guirgis	...	Himself
Tim Allen	...	Himself
Andy Borowitz	...	Himself
W. Bruce Cameron	...	Himself
David Cross	...	Himself
Andy Dick	...	Himself
Tate Donovan	...	Himself
Illeana Douglas	...	Herself
Jeff Garlin	...	Himself
Judy Gold	...	Herself
Annabelle Gurwitch	...	Herself
Jeff Kahn	...	Himself
Richard Kind	...	Himself
Anne Meara	...	Herself
Bob Odenkirk	...	Himself
Robert Reich	...	Himself
Jeffrey Ross	...	Himself
Walter Scheib	...	Himself
Harry Shearer	...	Himself
Sarah Silverman	...	Herself
Ben Stein	...	Himself
Fisher Stevens	...	Himself
Paul F. Tompkins	...	Himself
Jordan Werner	...	Dinner Guest
Fred Willard	...	Himself
Roy Zimmerman	...	Himself

Directed by
Chris Bradley
Kyle LaBrache

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Annabelle Gurwitch

Produced by
Richard Foos	....	executive producer
Annabelle Gurwitch	....	producer

Original Music by
Gary Stockdale

Cinematography by
Kyle LaBrache

Film Editing by
Chris Bradley
Emery Emery
Kyle LaBrache
DeWalt Mix

Production Management
Aaron Hurvitz	....	production manager

Sound Department
Jeremy Grody	....	sound re-recording mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Brad Kelly	....	additional camera: Boston (as Bradley Kelly)

Editorial Department
Annie Eifrig	....	additional editing
Alison Flierl	....	book

Other crew
Ryan Maples	....	research assistant

Production Companies

• Shout! Factory
• Showtime Networks (in association with)
• Sundance Channel (in association with)

Distributors

• International Film Circuit (2007) (USA) (theatrical)
• Shout! Factory (2006) (USA) (theatrical)
• Vagrant Films (2006) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Vagrant Films (2006) (Canada) (TV)

Runtime:

USA:71 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Filming Locations:

Lansing, Michigan, USA

Company:

Shout! Factory

A one-trick pony

Annabelle Gurwitch has a certain amount of sadsack charm, but that's not enough to carry an entire film that is mostly about comedians and other performers who regale us with their ever-so-funny experiences about getting fired.

This is a one-trick pony of a film that somehow pretends to have much deeper import -- i.e. 'downsizing in America,' which is a truly devastating problem affecting many millions of people in the U.S. and other Western countries. It's isn't light-hearted hilarity to be driven to the sidelines of society, perhaps never to return.

I think Gurwitch means well, but I kept wondering how many of the stories in this film were actual or imagined. Call me cynical (which I am, of course), but performers are trained (and paid) to be 'on,' to pretend they're someone else.

There's too much 'padding' in this film. The segments with the truly irritating Andy Dick, as just one example, should have been excised or at least shortened. Somebody, somewhere, once told Dick that he was funny and, alas, he took it seriously. And I've never seen Fred Willard, Jeff Garlin and Harry Shearer so UNfunny. How is that possible?

Nice try anyway.