Insignificance (1985)

Four 1950s icons meet in the same hotel room and two of them discover more in common between them than they ever anticipated.

Director:

Nicolas Roeg

Writer:

Terry Johnson (screenplay)

Stars:

Gary Busey, Tony Curtis, Theresa Russell

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Michael Emil	...	Professor
Theresa Russell	...	Actress
Tony Curtis	...	Senator
Gary Busey	...	The Ballplayer
Will Sampson	...	Elevator Attendant
Patrick Kilpatrick	...	Driver
Ian O'Connell	...	Assistant Director
George Holmes	...	Actor
Richard M. Davidson	...	Director of Photography (as Richard Davidson)
Mitchell Greenberg	...	Technician
Raynor Scheine	...	Autograph Hunter
Jude Ciccolella	...	Gaffer
Lou Hirsch	...	Charlie
Ray Charleson	...	Bud
Joel Cutrara	...	Bar Drunk

Storyline

Four 1950's cultural icons (Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe, Joe DiMaggio and Senator Joseph MacCarthy) who conceivably could have met and probably didn't, fictionally do in this modern fable of post-WWII America. Visually intriguing, the film has a fluid progression of flash-backs and flash-forwards centering on the fictional Einstein's current observations, childhood memories and apprehensions for the future.

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Plot Keywords:

1950s | new york city | based on play | hotel room | baseball player | 

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Taglines:

A comedy about life, death, sex and the universe . . . relatively speaking

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Genres:

Drama | Comedy

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

2 August 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Insignificancia

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Recorded Picture Company (RPC), Zenith Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie's opening prologue states: "This story and its contents are entirely fictitious".

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Goofs

When the Actress buys balloons at a newsstand, several vintage magazines are prominently displayed, but mid-80s magazines can also be seen, including an issue of PC World.

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Quotes

The Actress: I only said I knew, because you said you knew.
The Professor: I lied. Knowledge isn't truth. It's just mindless agreement. You agree with me, I agree with someone else - we all have knowledge. We haven't come any closer to the truth. You can never understand anything by agreeing, by making definitions. Only by turning over the possibilities. That's called thinking. If I say I know, I stop thinking. As long as I keep thinking, I come to understand. That way, I might approach some truth.

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Connections

Featured in Big Audio Dynamite: E=MC2 (1985)

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Soundtracks

When Your Heart Runs Out of Time
Words & Music & Sung by Will Jennings

User Reviews

Fair "chamber piece"

"Insignificance" is a far from great film, from a stage play, directed by Nic Roeg. In the scheme of Roeg's films, this is above the level of most of his post-"Don't Look Now" work, which is characterised by judicious use of Theresa Russell as lead actress. She's actually very good here, and far from the problem in other Roeg films like "Bad Timing" and "Cold Heaven". As the "Actress", who is Marilyn Monroe, Russell is very effective, portraying her as a thoroughly depressive, but likeable siren. She plays well alongside Michael Emil as Einstein, who is excellent to say the least. He looks the part admirably, and while Theresa Russell doesn't look exactly like Monroe, she certainly is attractive enough to make the part ring true. Other players are adequate if not quite as arresting as Emil and Russell are. A pretty workable, intelligent script is directed well by Roeg, but certainly not brilliantly, like "Walkabout" or "Performance". As in other later Roeg films, he tends to rely too much on vague, insubstantial flashbacks, that add very little to the film. In many ways the film would have worked better as a shorter (say, 60 minutes), more modest piece. Still, a quite acceptable, passable film. At times quite excellent, but somewhat lacking overall. Rating:- *** 1/2/*****