Angeline-Rose Troy, comedy, Eric Roberts, Jennifer Tilly, Kay Lenz, Keith Carradine, Lenny von Dohlen, Lucas Krystek, Maria Conchita Alonso, movies, Nikki Tuazon, reviews, Sally Kirkland, Sallywood, Tom Connolly, Tyler Steelman, Xaque Gruber
November 14, 2024
by Carla Hay
Directed by Xaque Gruber
Culture Representation: Taking place in mostly in the Los Angeles area and briefly in Maine, the comedy film “Sallywood” features a predominantly white cast of characters (with a few black people and Asians) representing the working-class, middle-class and wealthy.
Culture Clash: A superfan of actress Sally Kirkland moves from Maine to Los Angeles to become a filmmaker, and he ends up becoming Kirkland’s assistant, with various mishaps along the way.
Culture Audience: “Sallywood” will appeal mainly to people who are fans of the movie’s headliners and comedic stories about how Hollywood treats elderly actresses.
Fan fiction meets semi-autobiography in the comedy film “Sallywood,” a charming but frequently awkward story about a Sally Kirkland superfan getting a job as her assistant. Writer/director Xaque Gruber mixes cornball comedy with witty satire about ageism. The movie gets a little too redundant when it keeps bringing up the same jokes, but “Sallywood” (which is Gruber’s feature-film directorial debut) also offers cutting observations about career obstacles faced by actresses who are over the age of 60.
“Sallywood” begins by showing archival footage of the real Kirkland during a highlight of her career, when she won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Drama for the 1987 movie “Anna.” In real life, Kirkland also won an Independent Spirit Award and received an Oscar nomination for this role. And “Sallywood” never lets you forget it because these accomplishments are repeated enough times in the movie that it becomes somewhat irritating.
The movie’s protagonist/narrator is Zack (played by Tyler Steelman), an aspiring filmmaker who is originally from Maine. As a young adult, Zack decides to move to Los Angeles to pursue his filmmaker dreams. He ends up becoming an assistant to Sally Kirkland (who plays a version of herself in the movie), who is his all-time favorite actress. And because this movie is a comedy, various mishaps ensue.
In real life, Gruber really did move from Maine to Los Angeles and became Kirkland’s assistant. For the purposes of this review, the real Sally Kirkland will be referred to as Kirkland. The Sally Kirkland character in “Sallywood” will be referred to as Sally.
“Sallywood” begins with Zack saying in a voiceover: “In every humdrum life, there is a muse—someone who ignites inspiration. Matisse had the Cone sisters. Andrew Wyeth had Helga. And me? I had Sally Kirkland.”
Early in the movie, there are flashback scenes showing 9-year-old Zack (played by Lucas Krystek), as the adult Zack explains in a voiceover what led him to become obsessed with Kirkland: “It all began when our video store in Maine closed down when a moose jumped through a window, killing the owner.” As a result, all the VHS tapes in the store got sold at discounted prices.
Zack’s mild-mannered father Dave (played by Lenny von Dohlen) bought “about a dozen” of these tapes, which were tapes that no one else wanted. Among these tapes was the movie “Anna.” The adult Zack says in a voiceover: “Even at 9 years old, I knew a great performance when I saw it. I couldn’t get enough of it. I had no idea my life would change over a wayward moose.”
When Zack is old enough to move out of his parents’ home, he announces that he’s moving to Los Angeles to become a filmmaker. Zack’s overprotective mother Joann (played by Jennifer Tilly) doesn’t want him to go. She warns Zack that Los Angeles is a “terrible place” of “drugs, fires, earthquakes, Kardashians and porn.” By contrast, Zack’s father Dave is supportive of Zack’s move to Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, Zack ends up with a roommate named Tom Dodgson (played by Tom Connolly), a British immigrant who spent time in prison for stealing money from bank machines. Tom currently makes money as a medical volunteer for spinal tap experiments and as a driver for porn actresses. A recurring joke in the movie is that Tom hangs out with two porn actresses—Bibi (played by Nikki Tuazon) and Poundcake (played by Angeline-Rose Troy)—who are frequently at the apartment shared by Zack and Tom. At one point in the movie, Zack mentions that he’s a virgin.
Zack meets Sally Kirkland by chance when he finds out that she’s a regular customer at a diner where he’s having a meal. Zack sees her get in her car in the parking lot and follows her to a gallery where she has an art exhibit. Zack approaches Sally, predictably gushes over her, and says he would love to work with her. Sally hires him on the spot to be her assistant.
And what a coincidence: Tom is an aspiring filmmaker too. He’s the writer and director of a movie called “Outer Space Zombie Chicks in Prison.” Tom wants Sally to star in the movie. Zack advises Sally against it, but she does the movie because she says she needs the money.
Various characters show up and make side commentaries in footage that is mostly supposed to look like interviews. Venetia Boyd (played by Maria Conchita Alonso) is a “Hollywood scammer.” George Corrigan (played by Keith Carradine) and Kathryn Corrigan (played by Kay Lenz) are famous directors and ex-spouses who give cynical advice about the filmmaking industry. Clem (played by Eric Roberts) is Sally’s longtime on-again/off-again agent, whom she keeps firing and re-hiring.
The movie’s repeated joke about Sally being mistaken for actress Sally Kellerman is a bit over-used. And a joke that grows tiresome very quickly is Sally wanting people to know that she had a lot of famous lovers when she was younger, including Bob Dylan, Dennis Hopper and Ted Koppel. For example, Sally asks Zack to write her obituary, and she gets upset when her celebrity sexual conquests aren’t mentioned in the obituary. “Sallywood” loses some of its way with a tedious subplot about Sally having a past love affair with George.
“Sallywood” also walks a fine line at poking fun at the ageism and sexism that Sally experiences and poking fun at her too. The acting performances in “Sallywood” are uneven: Kirkland’s performance is the best thing about the movie, Steelman is adequate in his role, and almost all the other cast members play their characters in a broad and exaggerated manner. Even with the movie’s flaws, “Sallywood” has enough amusing satire about entertainment industry prejudices and Hollywood filmmaking that should maintain most viewers’ attention if people are interested in these topics.
Sneak Preview Entertainment released “Sallywood” in Los Angeles on November 8, 2024.