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 Tom Banks has had an epiphany - after reading a book on filmmaking, he is determined to create the next blockbuster. While he really knows little about the process, he is full of the first-time-director energy that, although initially encouraging, causes him to make so many mistakes at the beginning that end up coming back to bite him hard in the end.
This film is chock-full of stereotypes, but every single one of them works perfectly. The aspiring director with his head in the clouds (until all his dreams are eventually crushed), the financial backer who wants more and more control while simultaneously cutting the budget, the over-the-top method actor, the neurotic screenwriter, and the obligatory son of the backer who gets the lead role - even though he can't act. It's classic indie filmmaking.
Along with this cast of characters are just about every problem that can plague a film set. Things start going downhill from the beginning when Tom tries to find a suitable screenplay. He starts off at a poetry reading and is chased out by the non-conformist attendees. He tries a college writing class, but the students there are far too desperate. He finally finds a script on Craigslist, but doesn't realize that his vision is diametrically opposite from the neurotic writer (at least not until the film is halfway through production). He then calls on local dentists for financial backing (ala Sam Raimi and Army of Darkness), since his inspiration book says that dentists are the "dumbest rich people" to solicit money from. The dentists insist on a proper film reel first, so Tom goes searching for a cinematographer - on Craigslist, yet again. He finds an eccentric German with what appears to be a great resume, and presents the findings to his supposed backers. But when the dentists happen to find the passage in Tom's book disparaging their profession, they promptly leave. Tom then must call on his uncle Marvin to provide the money, but Marvin asks for creative control in return.
Things only get worse from there: the star breaks his ankle and sues the director, the cinematographer confesses to falsifying his resume, the writer gets his wish of a genre-change halfway through, a power surge destroys the editor's computer and black mold ruins the backup tapes, an explosion special effect almost kills a crew member, and one of the actors gets arrested.
It's a hilarious film, especially for those who have ever gone through the insanity that is an independent film. While it's rare that all of these problems should occur just on one film, it's not beyond the realm of possibility - especially in a production where very little pre-planning was done.
I have very few complaints about the content of the film, though the ending does seem to drag a little bit as the film is finally being brought to a conclusion. It seems to fall flat with a series of several false endings before the film is actually over. It's a good ending, but oddly done.
Finally, the scene where the special effects explosion goes awry is very funny, but not set up as well as it could be. There is a brief shot of someone setting up gas cans, and as the rest of the cast and crew are walking toward the site, there is the sound of an explosion. I couldn't really tell if someone got hurt and who it was, though there was talk later of someone being in the hospital, but it wasn't clearly explained. The explosion part seemed to be set up in such a way that wouldn't require a lot of time and effort. While it would have been nice to add some shake and particle effects in post to really sell the disaster, it was still a good scene. There were sound effects of police sirens in the background, but I was almost wishing that a paddy wagon would show up like Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
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