Review of When Will I Be Loved

Introduction

James Toback is usually a sassy enough Director. A Screenwriter turned Director with some fine pieces under his belt, including `Black and White` and `Two girls and a Guy`. So what went wrong with `When will I be Loved?`.

Well, the clues are all there in the audio commentary. This has all the hallmarks of opportunistic filmmaking at its worst. With the legendary Roger Corman approach of `got some actors, got some film, got some locations, let`s make a film this weekend`, `When` was shot in an incredibly tight twelve days. This may well account for the unfathomable moments in the movie where Mike Tyson is clumsily shoehorned into the plot for a few cursory moments, as is Lori Singer - both of whom play themselves.

Stealing an idea from `Indecent Proposal`, the movie opens with a hackneyed bat and ball style cut between the daily activities of two young people, both of whom (it transpires after an agonisingly over-long twenty minutes or so) are lovers. The movie opens with Neve Campbell`s character masturbating (or so we assume) in the shower. She then makes her way to an appointment with a sleazy, smug academic (played almost too convincingly by Toback himself) who`s interviewing technique is corny, over-confident and flirtatious. As they walk and talk through New York`s mean street, we see Campbell`s character exchange phone numbers with just about every man she meets, clearly establishing her as sexually promiscuous and in control. (Subtle as a sledgehammer this…).

In the meantime we see her hustling lover (Frederick Weller) on the phone, in arguments with a blonde in Times Square, in a sexual foursome with three more blondes in a park (who he`s promised will get auditions with a famous hip-hop promoter that he claims to be great friends with), and negotiating with a multi-billionaire media who`s intent on a dalliance with Weller`s girlfriend who he spotted at an airport.

Then the Campbell and Weller meet, this time in Campbell`s chic loft apartment (she`s a little rich girl) where he persuades her to go along with his devious plot to separate the tycoon (The Soprano`s Dominic Chianese) from a million dollars. She agrees, the money disappears and someone dies, all in that order.

Video

Pretty lame though it`s hard to see whether the lack of contrast and the bland colouring was on the original print or manifested during the transfer. Either way, you`ll give up caring.

Audio

Like the movie itself, there`s a curious mish-mash of music in the score, giving it a disconnected, ill thought through feel. From rock to classical to hip-hop and everything in-between. Decidedly unremarkable though.

Features

There`s an audio commentary which, whilst sometimes over intellectualising what is in effect a turkey of a movie, actually turns out to be more fun than the film itself.

There`s also a very cheesily titled featurette called `Scene Sexplorations` which shows both Toback and Campbell discussing the movies various sex scenes.

Conclusion

`When will I be Loved` was (I believe) a straight to DVD release in the UK. It`s no surprise. It`s a nasty movie pretending to be intellectual which is full of individuals that don`t have a single redeemable trait between them. You simply end up being `not bothered` about what happens to any of them. It`s all very cheesy, very unlikely, and ultimately vacuous.

Die-hard Toback fans will miss the powerhouse improvisational performances of actors like Robert Downey Jr. who have made some of Toback`s previous movies so good. This movie started out as a half-thought experiment and ended as a travesty.

Life is short. DVD`s like this are long. Avoid.