A comedy writer who has lost hot-shot status (Matthew Broderick) finds
himself in writer's purgatory, scripting a third-rate TV sitcom. He got
himself there through his addictions to drugs, alcohol, and gambling, which
led him to miss a lot of appointments, tell a lot of lies, and screw over a
lot of people. As the film begins he's staying off the drugs and
booze, but is just as addicted to gambling as ever, and is lying about it to
his long-suffering wife. She's about at the end of her tether with his
behavior, but has resolved to give him one last chance to redeem himself by
persuading a prodigal niece to enter rehab. That will be no small task since
the niece is fairly content with her prosperous and independent life as a
Nevada hooker, and is well aware that her uncle needs rehab a lot more than
she does. Making the task even more difficult is the fact that the
gambling-addicted uncle is trying to perform his mission of mercy while
surrounded by Las Vegas in all of its glory.
I enjoyed seeing Matthew Broderick playing a lying, hard-cussing dissolute.
It's the type of role in which we might reasonably expect to see Don Johnson
or Michael Madsen, but the presence of Broderick in the role tends to invest
it with a greater humanity and warmth, and that in turn lets us appreciate the
character as a man rather than a movie stereotype. Unfortunately, that's about
all the film has. Poor ol' Broderick needs a hit. A couple of years ago The
Last Shot went almost directly to video (after a perfunctory theatrical
release), and Finding Amanda is going to repeat that experience without the
"almost."
It's a disappointingly conflicted movie. Is it a drama? Is it a black
comedy? It certainly seems like a comedy at times, but it has two problems
which will cause it to lose its connection to comedy audiences:
(1) There are moments of intense drama. Broderick gets his hands broken
by a pimp. The niece is beaten by her boyfriend. In another scene, the
reality of her life finally manages to erode her cheerful facade, and she
weeps uncontrollably.
(2) The comedy takes a "nudge-nudge" attitude toward subjects which some,
perhaps many, will consider off-limits for cheap laughs. The niece talks
about being repeatedly raped by another uncle over an eight-month period,
and Broderick responds cavalierly, "And I thought I was a bad uncle." I'm
all in favor of letting comedy writers seek humor in dark places with no
restrictions, but that particular one-liner, in the casual context, made me
cringe rather than laugh.
The film doesn't work very well as a drama, either. For one thing, the
characterization is too one-dimensional. The niece's creepy boyfriend is
obviously not a real character, but a farcical exaggeration. For another
thing, some of the plot details are not buttoned up enough to work in a
realistic storyline. There is a matter of a missing $186,000, which seems to
be an important enough plot element to occupy many minutes of exposition -
until the film ends without explaining what happened to it! Finally, the film
is too ambivalent about the moral issues it essays, so it gives off mixed
messages about the niece's life as a hooker. Is she a pragmatist who is
building financial security faster than any of us could dream of, or is she
forever destroying her humanity? Apparently both. Or neither. Hard to say.
Overall, one would have to call Finding Amanda a dark comedy, but the
proper tone for black comedy is difficult to find and maintain, and this
script never seems to hone in on it. The film walks an uneasy line between
social relevance and broad farce, never commits to either, sometimes lapses
into bad taste, and never seems to find the balance necessary to deliver a
satisfying film.
