Alison Lohman plays a pop star who is recovering from a bad break-up with
her boyfriend, and whose grief is exacerbated by paparazzi. Steve Buscemi
plays a low-rent paparazzo who lives in an extremely dilapidated apartment
building, and struggles to pay the rent. Michael Pitt plays a homeless
20-something kid whose story links the star and the paparazzo. The homeless
kid stumbles into a group of paparazzi one morning as they camp out, waiting
for the pop star. The kid ends up volunteering to get coffee so none of the
photographers have to abandon a key vantage point. He happens to run into the
star, and they have an immediate connection. He may be homeless, but he has a
beautiful cherubic face, ala a young DiCaprio, and he's a sweet kid, so the
pop star is immediately attracted to his naivete and good looks.
The paparazzo hires the kid as his "assistant," and lets him clean up and
sleep in his apartment. While he lives in the paparazzo's closet, the kid tries to pursue his unlikely romance with the
pop star and does quite well for a while, but blows it when he gets
invited to the pop star's birthday and brings along you-know-who as "a
friend." Although the paparazzo promises not to take any pictures at the
party, he can't
help himself when he gets introduced to Elvis Costello, and his indiscretion
gets him kicked out. The homeless kid is also kicked out for having brought a
reviled paparazzo to the party, and his unlikely romance with the star seems
to have ended.
The final component of the plot is that the handsome boy ends up getting
recruited by a horny 40ish casting director (Gina Gershon) who thinks the lad
just may be able to make it as a soap opera or reality show star. Even if that
falls through, she figures the young hunk will at least keep her bed warm. The
young man's career takes off, inevitably leading him back to the pop star, who
is his true love, or so he thinks. He has to balance his ambition and his love
for the pop tart against his loyalty to the sleazebag paparazzo who saved him
from homelessness and to the agent who built his career and wants him for
herself.
Part of Delirious is a truly romantic love story between two naive and
well-mannered kids who just happen to be in the public eye. That sincere
romance is packed inside a cynical and very odd black dramedy about the lives
of paparazzi, agents, and handlers. That combination sounds incongrous, so I
expected to dislike the film. I was wrong. The whole package makes for a
surprisingly good watch, not because of the beautiful young couple who conduct
their courtship in public, although their story is kind of fairy-tale cute,
but because of the old pros Buscemi and Gershon. Buscemi, as always, makes his
character completely credible, natural and multi-dimensional. He's just one of
those actors, like Denzel, who can make just about any dialogue or situation
work.
Delirious was a critical darling, but it's an arty and totally
non-commercial film and would rate a pass without Buscemi. With him, however,
it's worth a look if you like movies off the beaten track.
