I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!

Before the most recent American installment of the popular British franchise, I was vaguely familiar with the gist of what I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! would be: a watered down version of Survivor staring washed up celebrities.  As I have not seen any of the British versions, I cannot attest to their merits or faults.  I can safely say, after a week of the American version, that it is too all over the place to be truly enjoyable on any level.

Even though I didn’t start watching the show with high — or any — expectations, I’ve still managed to be let down in every single episode.  What I’m A Celebrity… has done is take the fun out of the basic premise of the show.  They screwed up right out of the gate by taking almost all competitive element out of the game.  What I can’t seem to figure out is how one actually wins, because all of the contestants are eliminated by popular vote, leaving any concept of competition on the cutting room floor.  Anyone could win this game.  The only time the celebrities compete against each other is in the food challenges (where the teams compete for food, although they always end up sharing with one another, so why bother?) and immunity challenges.  The challenges, however, offer little to cheer over.  All but two have involved either being cover in or having to eat bugs, and half the celebrities quite before the challenge even starts.  Who can blame them?  When Janice Dickinson refuses to eat a plate of bugs, after several consecutive challenges of being forced to eat/be covered in them, you can’t chalk that up to a diva attitude.  I wouldn’t do that, and I’m not a celebrity.  And why would Janice Dickinson do that anyway?  Unlike Survivor, she isn’t playing for personal gain, she’s playing for a charity which she could easily give to without having to eat beetles, and besides, since America ultimately decides, she doesn’t have to worry about even competing in challenges.  As long as she continues to cause drama, I’d wager that she’s going to be on the show for a long time.

Even though I’m sure they didn’t have the pick of the litter, the casting for the show also leaves a lot to be desired.  There is an odd mix of people who are there for us to laugh with/at (Janice Dickinson, those Pratt kids, Frangela), and people who are there to compete and win (Lou Diamond Philips, Patti Blagojevich, the Baldwins).  I found, as a viewer, half the time I was rooting for the laugh crew because I just wanted to see them make jokes and cry after running into spider webs, but the other half of the time I’m rooting for the actual competators, who are there to win and actually do there best at the game.  The show isn’t suited to either party.  For the laugh crew, it’s simply too hard.  Frangela could barely make the hike to camp the first day, and even though they are hillarious, it’s almost painful to watch them in the competition aspects of the game.  While for the people who care, it’s embarassing having to watch them put their heart into something so half assed.  The celebrities are basically on a glorified camping trip.  They have nice cots, plenty of food and water, studio lighting at night, and I’m assuming tarps over their heads.  The competitions usually require little to no skill, and if they fail to provide laughs or drama, you can expect to see them leave the game pretty quickly.  This imbalance makes the show as tepid as puddle water.

The show’s biggest problem comes from the fact that parts of the show are live, which means it is being produced and also airing right now.  This gives the production crew little time to edit together the episodes, which leave them feeling sloppy and almost like a greatest hits reel.  Survivor takes time to flush out the contestant, and through careful editing, turns each one into a character that follows an arc from the time they land in the wild to when they are voted out.  I’m a Celebrity… cannot do that.  Each contestant is given an uneven edit, and you never quite know what their character is supposed to be.  Even with the other problems of the show, if they took time and carefully edited each episode, they might be able to smooth out the rough edges, but with a one or two day turn over time from filming to on air, it becomes impossible.  Excluding shows that are all competition and no character (American Idol, So You Think You Can Dance), reality TV shows need to have a story just like regular TV shows.  What they seemed to forget is that reality TV is only about 20% reality, and 80% TV.

All in all, I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! offers some entertainment, and a few bright spots.  Patti Blagojevich, wife of embattled former governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich, is an interesting character.  She is the only non-celebrity, and appears to be on the show to tell her side of her and her husbands story as their trouble grows worse and worse.  I’m interested to see how long she lasts on the show, and if she can over come the fact that unlike most of the other contestants, she’s not a very public figure (at least compared to her husband).  And the show does raise a lot of questions.  Does celebrity reality TV want us to love the celebrities for the faults they rub in our face, or mock and hate them?  And when do you stop becoming a former actor/singer/comedian, and simply become a reality TV star?  Unfortunately, I don’t think I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! is going to answer any of those questions.

3.5/10

2 Days in Paris

2007

Directed and written by Julie Delpy
Staring Julie Delpy, Adam Goldberg, Marie Pillet, Albert Delpy, and Aleksia Landeau

It’s hard to not watch the first movie of any burgeoning film maker without nervous tension, especially when it is the first feature length film written and directed by indie darling Julie Delpy. Having appeared in over a dozen movies, co-written the screenplay for the hit Before Sunset, and directed countless short films, Delpy is no stranger to the film making process, and therefore bears the burden of heightened expectations. In her debut effort, 2 Day in Paris, Delpy proves that all those years in the industry have honed her into a talented and natural film maker.

The film centers around Marion (Delpy) and Jack (Goldberg), a couple constantly living on the edge of their relationship. We are introduced to them en route to France from Italy, coming home from a vacation marred by stomach flu. Marion is a French ex-patriot who grew up in Paris, but now lives in New York with Jack, a true American at heart. The title of the movie refers, obviously, to the ensuing two days they spend in the small apartment above Marion’s parent’s (Pillet and Delpy) house.

Although not set in New York City, 2 Days in Paris is far and away the closest anyone has ever come to recreating the magic (and turmoil) of Woody Allen. Delpy manages to create almost perfectly what Allen did flawlessly in his films, characters whose neurosis rule their lives. Marion and Jack seem slightly normal on the surface, but after spending a little time with them we find that they are both completely unhinged. As the two embark on tourist escapades around the city, they find themselves face to face with several of Marion’s ex-lovers, each more unsettling than the last. While Marion finds nothing wrong with her history, Jack can barely contain himself. What works so well about the characters is the subtle arc that they both follow. We are lead to believe that Marion is a push over in relationships, as she bears the brunt of many of Jack’s criticisms with half-hearted explanations rather than actual defenses, and Jack’s jealousy seems to be a simple matter of animistic instinct to protect his conquest. By the end of the film, the characters are stripped of these arch types, and allowed to interact with each other in a realistic, honest way. The shifts are so subtle, that we never quite see them happening, but are simply left with the impression that they have.

As a film maker, Delpy’s instincts are brilliantly sloppy. The actual plot of the film is bare, the ideas aren’t exactly original, and many of the supporting characters have little depth. This, however, is all part of Delpy’s grand scheme. The sparse plot and unoriginal thesis take pressure of the back of the film, and lets Delpy’s delightful script and beautiful direction inhabit the body of the film. As for the supporting characters, they are all there to service the plot, but because of Delpy’s keen choice of actors (her parents), they are given an almost secret third dimension.

Much of the cons of the film come not from the sloppy big picture, but the fat in the actual film. While the script is consistently hilarious, there are a few gags that end up falling flat — notably, one involving Jack and several lost tourists. Delpy also relies on a few first film crutches. The use of flashbacks to her quirky youth, and a small subplot involving an eco-terrorist, both slow the pace of the movie and take something away from the confidence the rest of the movie displayed. Also, the ending seemed forced, and didn’t quite do justice to the rest of the film.

What I found that I liked so much about 2 Days in Paris, was that it is a small film. There aren’t many laugh out loud funny moments, or shocking dramatic scenes. It’s biggest strength comes from the sense of security it lures you into, and by the end you’ll want to spend several more days in Paris with the characters. To me, that fact is enough to forgive most of the movies flaws.

7.5/10