Chump Change

I saw the film at the Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison. I had to see it again at the next showing as I missed so much of it while laughing my butt off through the first sceening. I loved the the comedy skits, the script rewriting hell and the Wisconsin scenes. This is one not to be missed. The whole cast is first rate, hillarious!!!

See this movie. Steve Burrows is more committed to the art of funny than anyone I've ever met. His timing is impeccable, his performance is charming, his writing is off-beat, and he's not a pretty boy (at all). I've had the pleasure of working with Steve recently, and this movie is one of the reasons why I even wanted to. See it as soon as it's released (last I heard was later this year).

Whoever gave this film a BAD review has no sense of humor. You can't deny funny when it's there. And funny is all over this flick.

Okay, nuff said. See the film. Even if it's just because Steve's a nice guy. Which he really is.

Milwaukeean Steve Burrows (actually from the southern suburb Greendale) tries to make it in Hollywood and "fails" but Milwaukee gets its revenge in this scathing satire of the movie-making biz. It's too funny! As in, "my god, Steve, you're just too funny!" Those who saw "Chump Change" or have heard Steve comment on it will know what I mean. Also, don't forget: in order to succeed, you have to make the producer's penis twitch. "Don't ask me why!" Lots of great cameos from minor stars old and younger. Ann Meara probably has the single funniest line in the movie. I won't spoil it for you but it's her first line. Well, at least it was funny to this raised-and-still-living-in-Milwaukee reviewer. Too bad, it never saw the light of day on the big screen except at the Milwaukee Film Festival in Nov 2003. It was made in 2000, I believe. Judging from all the Milwaukee-shot scenes, it must have been during the record-setting month of December. At any rate, the movie is available from Miramax video. Buy it, already!

I am old enough to remember when Traci Lords was arrested for being under aged and starring in adult films. She is the first adult film actress to successfully cross over to the mainstream even though her movies have not always been Oscar caliber. In most of her roles she has played the femme fatale or bad girl. In this film she gets to play the nice girl next door and does a great job. There are times in this film when she smiles or dances and I felt myself falling for her. She was believeable in this movie. It was the first time that I didn't see the porno star, but a real actress. Overall this film is good, probably a B+. The story is funny and Tim Matheson is great (does that guy ever age). The director and star Stephen Burrows is very likable. Hopefully he will do more and use more of Traci Lords. I really liked this movie and I think you will too.

In a comedy based on the writer-director Stephen Burrows' own experiences in the film industry, Burrows himself plays Steve, an aspiring actor and screenwriter who moves back to his childhood home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin after a less than successful career in Hollywood. There he finds a spunky young woman Sam (Traci Lords) renting the house and starts recounting his experiences to her, shown to us in lengthy flashbacks.

The Hollywood scenes are fairly funny with many references to real-life actors and movies. The numerous agents and managers Steve has to meet are particularly crazy, especially Simon 'Sez' Simone (Tim Matheson) with his bizarre and self-contradicting rants about what a movie should and should not be. The industry is presented as a completely impossible working environment, with orders and notes pouring in from every direction to confuse the poor writer who is just trying to do what he's told. There are also funny scenes poking fun at amateur acting classes, poor sketch comedy shows and the unconventional and unpredictable lifestyles of bigwig producers and their entourages.

Even though the hectic pacing and jumping between the Hollywood and Milwaukee scenes may look a bit annoying to some, at the end of the day there's a lot to like in Chump Change. The lead character Steve is very likable and sympathetic and the wintery Wisconsin infrastructure looks cozy and suits the theme of the story very well. Traci Lords may not be the cutest love interest in the history of romantic cinema, but she handles the role well enough. The most fun comes in the form of the many supporting characters though, making the movie well worth seeing to anyone interested in the behind-the-scenes life of film industry.