A certain style of deadpan, exhausted comedy plays well in “The TV Set,” a mild but enjoyable demonstration of a Hollywood moviemaker biting the hand that feeds him.
That director is Jake Kasdan, who made his first movie (“The Zero Effect”) when he was in his early 20s, and later worked on the cult TV show “Freaks and Geeks.” He’s not to be confused with his younger brother Jonathan, who makes his directing debut this week with “In the Land of Women” (Page 10). Both are sons of Hollywood heavyweight Lawrence Kasdan.
“The TV Set” traces the progress of a new TV pilot by veteran writer Mike Klein (David Duchovny). He has in mind a sensitive, winsome comedy about a man returning to his hometown after his brother’s suicide.
By the time the project gets through the meat-grinder of studio development, Mike can barely recognize his script. Or himself.
The film begins with a wonderful sequence in which Mike auditions his top actors for the network brass. His own choice, a brooding, bearded young actor, is easily outpointed by the facile shtick of the jokey Zach (excellent scene-stealer Fran Kranz).
The film traces the many ways the project becomes watered-down and compromised by the network bosses – most notably, the imperious Lenny (Sigourney Weaver), who reflexively cheapens everything she touches.
Sigourney Weaver is too broad in the role, but Lenny is such a serious dingbat, you almost can’t blame her. Expressing concern over the pilot’s suicide angle, Lenny thoughtfully cites a poll stating that 82 percent of the public finds suicide depressing.
Mike is the central character, played with Duchovny’s usual poker-faced calm. One of the nice surprises in the film is the casting of former sitcom star Justine Bateman as his practical wife; she’s very good, and she anchors the satire in some kind of reality.
But the movie ranges around, including an awkward subplot about a British TV exec (Ioan Gruffud, late of “Amazing Grace”) whose integrity is crushed by being a yes-man to Lenny. We also check in with Zach and his co-star (the appealing Lindsay Sloane), as a backstage romance fizzles.
Along with the Hollywood satire and the parable of selling out, “The TV Set” actually shows you how a scene gets made – and how, by tweaking just a few things, a scene gets ruined. If you’ve wondered why so many movies and TV shows are so bad, this film provides a model.
Judy Greer, David Duchovny and Willie Garson star in “The TV Set.”
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