As a child Joan starred in a questionable but highly popular television show called "Daddy's little angel". Alas, fame is fleeting, and nowadays as an adult she struggles to find jobs or roles. Her seedy manager, who believes that any kind of publicity is good publicity, invents ever more attention-grabbing stunts...
A satire of the entertainment industry, "Desperation Boulevard" delivers a variety of kicks in the pants to people like movie stars, wannabe celebrities, agents, writers, fans and theatre moms. The great big viewing public also gets a panning, mainly over its fickleness and its conformism. Behind the laughs and yucks there runs a deeper examination of the terrible things some actors will do in order to gain or regain fame : lie about their sexual orientation, for instance, or invent persecution by non-existant attackers. (Usually the list also includes a conversion to the religion du jour, but here the heroine seems to have missed a beat.)
Protagonist Joan - a brave, committed performance by Judy Tenuta here - invites not only condemnation but also pity, given that she was raised by a ruthless theatre mom of the "But it's all for you, my precious little lamb" variety. Small wonder that a girl growing up in the care of such a vampiric harpy would develop a skewed sense of priorities...
"Desperation Boulevard" merrily invents imaginary movies, shows and infomercials in godawful taste, such as a television sitcom about a father who receives heavenly help through the intermediary of his dead child. It's only a matter of time before someone somewhere launches a show with a similar premise, in earnest.
A satire of the entertainment industry, "Desperation Boulevard" delivers a variety of kicks in the pants to people like movie stars, wannabe celebrities, agents, writers, fans and theatre moms. The great big viewing public also gets a panning, mainly over its fickleness and its conformism. Behind the laughs and yucks there runs a deeper examination of the terrible things some actors will do in order to gain or regain fame : lie about their sexual orientation, for instance, or invent persecution by non-existant attackers. (Usually the list also includes a conversion to the religion du jour, but here the heroine seems to have missed a beat.)
Protagonist Joan - a brave, committed performance by Judy Tenuta here - invites not only condemnation but also pity, given that she was raised by a ruthless theatre mom of the "But it's all for you, my precious little lamb" variety. Small wonder that a girl growing up in the care of such a vampiric harpy would develop a skewed sense of priorities...
"Desperation Boulevard" merrily invents imaginary movies, shows and infomercials in godawful taste, such as a television sitcom about a father who receives heavenly help through the intermediary of his dead child. It's only a matter of time before someone somewhere launches a show with a similar premise, in earnest.