The TV Set
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Actor: David Duchovny, Fran Kranz, Ioan Gruffudd, Judy Greer, Sigourney WeaverBrand: DUCHOVNY,DAVID
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); English (Original Language)
Format: AC-3, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 2.35:1
Running Time: 86 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2007-09-25
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Studio: 20th Century Fox
DVD Reviews of The TV Set
DVD Review: Don't Turn Off This 'TV Set' (3.5 Stars)
Summary: 4 Stars
A witty satire of what transpires when creative ideals clash with the mind-numbing industry of Hollywood production studios, "The TV Set" boasts a wealth of ironic comedy, relevant social commentary and dead-on acting. Marking filmmaker Jake Kasdan's first outing as both writer and director since 1998's excellent "Zero Point," the film is now available on DVD after a limited theatrical run last spring. Judd Apatow, who has produced many box office smashes as of late ("Superbad," "The-40-Year-Old Virgin)" serves as executive producer.
Mike (David Duchovny) is an aspiring TV writer who has paid his dues and finally has his pilot, "The Wexler Chronicles," up for serious consideration. However, there are roadblocks along the way, and most of them stem from Lenny (Sigourney Weaver), a network president who relentlessly streamlines his heartfelt, character-driven program to maximize its mainstream appeal (read: dumb it down) because, as she puts it, "original scares me a little."
On the sidelines are many people with their own specific agendas. Richard McAllister (Ioan Gruffudd), Lenny's top underling flown in from Britain due to his involvement in smash UK series, does his best to find compromise between his obsessive boss and Mike's deep-seated creativity, even if it means that he has no time whatsoever for his family. Further muddying the waters, Mike's assistant Alice (Judy Greer) is always finds a way to put a positive twist on every awful piece of news she delivers him, one of which is Lenny's mandate that Zach Harper (Fran Kranz) play the eponymous protagonist in favor of an immeasurably better actor simply because the boardroom brass all agree that their teenage daughters "will love him."
Elsewhere, Harper harasses his co-star Laurel Simon (Lindsay Sloane) while Mike's wife Natalie (Justine Bateman) pressures him to accept Lenny's provisions - after all, they have a baby on the way! Add in an overzealous production crew and a child extra who absolutely must have his scenes filmed by the end of the afternoon and the kettle is set to boil over.
Duchovny does a fine job of embodying the vast sensitivity that is par for the course in dedicated, feeling writers, making the tension in his scenes with Weaver go beyond piercing. Behind each others' backs he loathes her bloodsucking ways and she dismisses him as corny and "too blue state," but when they're together McAllister and Judy always show up to keep things going like clockwork.
"This is very personal to me because my brother killed himself," Mike says in defense of his initial idea for the show. "That's where all this came from, and the suicide, to me, has always been kind of the premise for everything that happens."
"I know," says Lenny, "but let's just think about it for a second. What if it weren't?"
Christopher Guest's "For Your Consideration" from late last year, which similarly satirized the film industry, delivered raucous belly laughs hand over fist, while "The TV Set" is much more tongue-in-cheek. However, Weaver's absolutely perfect performance is reason alone to rent it. A no-holds-barred businesswoman with a one-track mind, Lenny has all the best lines:
"I think that Jessie has fake breasts," she says after an audition, "and I believe that over the life of the series the audience can feel that."
Kasdan does a first-rate job all-around because even throughout a fast-paced 88 minutes he manages to craft depth and dimension in even the smallest of characters, including McAllister's wife Chloe (Lucy Davis), whose full-on sadness bounces off the screen in her few precious scenes, providing context throughout the film. The result is a satisfying movie with storylines that intertwine flawlessly.
"The TV Set" is indeed a fine, original film, so it wouldn't make it on Lenny's lineup - not with shows like "Slut Wars" ever in demand. Now that it's on DVD, it can make it on yours.
Description of The TV Set
No Description Available.Genre: Feature Film-Comedy
Rating: R
Release Date: 25-SEP-2007
Media Type: DVD
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