Twitter Reviews

9/29/07

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Jake Kasdan is quickly becoming one of my favorite comedy directors. With the criminally underrated Zero Effect and very decent Orange County already on his filmmography. He also knows quite a bit about TV, directing many episodes of two of the best shows of the last decade; Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared. So I was quite excited to see The TV Set.


David Duchovny is perfect as a television writer with a hot new script that is set to be one of the best pilots of the season. It's hilariously painful to watch as he has to comprise with the network and his boss Sigourney Weaver, on nearly every decision made in the creative process. First he loses his lead choice in his main actor, because the guy has a beard. Then he's fighting to keep the dramatic themes of his script alive. He's beat-down, till his show is just a shell of what it began as. Otherwise it would never have a chance of making it to air; it's the battle between art and commerce.


Kasdan, as a veteran TV writer/director, was the perfect filmmaker to bring this story to life. Some of it may be too inside for casual viewers, but I think anybody that has the slightest interest in how TV shows are made, would enjoy this film. The commentary track with Kasdan and Judd Aptow is wonderful, as they share all kinds of stories from their television days.





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