Review of Echo Park

Introduction

Something of an oddity this - an Austrian-financed film about Los Angeleans, shot in LA. Robert Dornhelm`s slice-of-life movie about three young losers awaiting The Big Break is ultimately pretty meaningless. As a study of human relationships, it has its war moments but no real profundity. None of the characters are particularly interesting. Susan Dey (best known as one of tv`s Partridge Family) heads the cast list as an aspiring actress reduced to taking sleazy, low paid jobs. Tom Hulce works as a pizza delivery boy but dreams of hitting the big time as a songwriter and Austrian bodybuilder August (Michael Bowen) dreams of being the next Schwarzenegger.

Neither gripping or entertaining, the movie limps along for 84 minutes and offers little as reward for that lost time.

Video

Presented in the original 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio, the movie is muddily shot on available-light stock. This gives the movie a very naturalistic lighting look, but also makes the movie grimmer than it needs to be.

Audio

A very plain vanilla Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo mix.

Features

Subtitles for the hard of hearing, but that`s your lot.

Conclusion

A typically "small" movie of the 1980s; a reaction against the rise of the blockbuster movies which have come to dominate Hollywood. Unfortunately somebody seems to have forgotten that a successful movie needs a captivating storyline and characters the audience will care about and Echo Park has neither. Alarmingly the picture is described as a "low-key" comedy - so low-key in fact there is precious little to laugh about.