Sally Roy Movies
A plumber looking for love hopes to find romance by impersonating a movie director in this offbeat independent comedy. David Kulovic (Martin Donovan) is a single guy who doesn't have much luck impressing the ladies, a dilemma he attributes to the poor opinion most people have of his trade, plumbing. One day, David is mistaken for a well-known film director, and discovers people, especially women, seem a great deal more friendly toward him when they think he works in the movies. David's case of mistaken identity gives him a brainstorm, and with the help of his pal R.J. (Kevin Carroll), he decides to pass himself off as a struggling independent filmmaker, hoping to meet aspiring actresses at his bogus casting calls. Of course, a filmmaker needs a script, and David swipes one from one of his neighbors, Toni Edelman (Mary-Louise Parker, who is trying to get her own foot in the door of the film business). As it happens, Toni's screenplay happens to be quite good, and soon David's nonexistent project is developing a very real buzz in indie film circles. Seeing this as her big chance at a career in Hollywood, Toni begins coaching David in how to act like a filmmaker in the hopes they can actually get David's phantom picture off the ground. Writer and director John C. Walsh based Pipe Dream in part on his own experiences as he was making his first feature film, Ed's Next Move. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Martin Donovan, Mary-Louise Parker, (more)
- 1998
- PG
Veteran ethnographic documentarian Leslie Woodhead helmed this U.S.-British docudrama about Ethiopian long-distance runner Haile Gebrselassie (with the Atlanta Olympic games sequence directed by Bud Greenspan). Gebrselassie won the gold medal in the men's 10,000-meters race at the 1996 Atlanta Olympic Games, and the Atlanta race serves as a framing device. Yonas Zergaw, the athlete's nephew, portrays him as a youth, with Gebrselassie portraying himself from age 18. At his native village of Asela, he ran 12 miles daily to school. When fellow Ethiopian Miruts Yifter won the 10,000-meter race at the 1980 Moscow Olympics, Haile was inspired and became a serious runner at 17, moving to Addis Ababa to begin training. Haile's late mother is played by his eldest sister. Haile's father portrays himself in later scenes, with Haile's first cousin acting as the father as a younger man in the film's earlier sequences. Shown at 1998 film fests (Telluride, Venice). ~ Bhob Stewart, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Haile Gebrselassie, Shawananness Gebrselassie, (more)
