This entertaining, informative documentary takes the concept of "something good coming out of a negative situation" to the max: Annabelle Gurwitch was fired from a play by none other than Woody Allen, and rather than moving to Las Vegas and drinking herself to death, she decided to turn the experience into art.
The film cleverly opens and closes in the style of a Woody Allen movie, complete with jazz music and his trademark stark black and white credits. In between, many "real life" people and celebs appear, some of them onstage in a production that Gurwitch created, and some in interview form, sharing their tortured stories of being canned from their positions, in show biz and otherwise, and who hasn't been fired at some point in their lives?
The movie is funny - the best comedy, after all, does come out of pain; humor, as we all realize, is one of the most effective coping mechanisms known to mankind - but the movie is more than merely amusing, it has depth. While not overtly political or heavy-handed like a Michael Moore joint, Gurwitch does include interviews with people who were fired by GM "through no fault of their own" - corporate restructuring crap - and government layoffs are included as well. This isn't a profound movie by any stretch, but it does have some good insights from real people about what it means to be out of a job.
