The Technical Writer
Directed by Scott Saunders
Written by Scott Saunders
and Michael Harris
Starring Michael Harris,
Tatum O'Neal, William Forsythe
and Pamela Gordon
Classification: 18A
Rating: *
What with all the bitching about Hollywood producing McDisney franchises, and journalist-author Peter Biskind's recent obituary of the independent film movement ( Down and Dirty Pictures: Miramax, Sundance and the Rise of Independent Film, Simon & Schuster), it's perversely reassuring to know that an American filmmaker with a bad idea, worse script, and D-list actors can still get an indie movie into theatres.
That movie would be The Technical Writer, the story of twitchy agoraphobic Jessup (Michael Harris), who has confined himself to his cluttered basement apartment where he writes computer manuals. He's seduced by vulgar artist Slim (Tatum O'Neal), with the approval of her husband Joe (William Forsythe), a pudgy, hard-breathing voyeur. Another interested spectator is Jessup's best friend, Camille (Pamela Gordon), a spiteful, wasting-away morphine addict.
Former child star O'Neal ( Paper Moon) delivers her every line with numbed surprise -- like she's reciting ingredients off the side of a cereal box.
Writer-director-actor team Scott Saunders and Michael Harris obviously believe that by stocking their New York story with difficult people, they're "keeping it real." But the "real" here is less credible (and entertaining) than the latest project from Reese Witherspoon.
Characters shout and misbehave with unconvincing passion. There is a badly filmed orgy. (As erotic as watching seniors weigh fruit at a grocery store.) Slim slaps Jessup. He socks her back. Aroused, they have sex. She pulls him out of doors (and himself.) Round two takes place in Central Park and is punctuated by more hot-blooded nipping and yapping.
All of a sudden, our title character is promenading down Broadway, right as rain. But can he save Tatum's character from herself?
How did this all happen? The spiteful morphine addict softens for a moment to unravel the secret of the universe: "Life is for the living," she tells us.
What a load! The Technical Writer is a numbingly bad movie and a glorious inspiration to every wannabe filmmaker with a "deeply personal" script wasting away in the bottom drawer of his or her desk. Carpe diem and get an agent, guys.