Review of The Users

This could have really been a tasteless wallow in glitzy sleaze, but, thanks to the fresh-scrubbed, earnest appeal of Smith, it comes off as a nearly chaste account of the behind the scenes world of Tinsel Town. Smith plays a small-town film extra and prostitute who is called into service by movie producer Hamilton in order to boost the ego and morale of his male lead Curtis prior to the filming of a big scene in his comeback vehicle. Smith is happy to oblige since Curtis is her favorite star and she knows all about him. They wind up falling for each other and moving back to Hollywood, but things get rough when the studio decides to cut the running time of Curtis's movie and release it at multiplexes and on network TV. Smith must immediately get to work, maneuvering around town to acquire a choice property for Curtis, but having to dodge various creatures like slimy agent Buttons and cantankerous writer McGavin in the bargain. She is aided by Curtis's grown daughter Phillips, wealthy investor Forsythe and the town's most skilled social maven Fontaine. Sadly, Curtis takes the news of his movie's failure so poorly that it may not matter what Smith accomplishes. Smith is quite good, despite being miscast. She could never convey the cold, common, hard qualities of a social-climbing hooker, so the film-makers wisely focused on her devotion to Curtis. She looks terrific, too, in an assortment of Nolan Miller gowns. Curtis is rather bad, actually. Certain aspects of his role seem to be either beyond him or uncomfortable for him to play. Still, he manages to invest some of his scenes with a nice amount of feeling. Phillips has a fairly colorless role, but brings some knowing attitude to it and a bit of flair. Hamilton looks great and would have looked even better without his ridiculous glasses. He gives as good a performance as this fluffy piece of shiny trash deserves. Chic Fontaine seems to be having fun, Buttons is appropriately cringe-inducing and McGavin does well in a cameo role. This may as well have been Forsythe's audition for "Dynasty", though he inherited that role from George Peppard. It's a glossy, soapy, skin-deep chunk of paste jewelry, the type of tele-film the late-70's and early-80's are noted for, but it's a decent time-waster. Jarre provides a neat score.