Ellie Parker (2005)

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

As someone that spent 18 years in the city of Angels, I have met many Ellie Parkers. I adored this little gem, albeit low budget movie, with some of best acting one could feast their eyes on. The scene with Ellie in the car in a complete hyped up, Star Bucks frenzy, smeared with lipstick, banging her head to Blondie and madly shouting out " I wanna suck Vinnie's ####'!!!" in her New Jersey accent, had me rolling on the floor.For those that know nothing of the dashed dreams of Many desperate Hollywood starlets, and the pure sleaze these women encounter as they try to fulfill their dreams, forget it, you just won't 'get it'. LA is a town, of big talking wannabes and 'Ellie Parker' really led you into that world with it's fake facade and empty promises. Naomi Watts just shines as Ellie Parker. She totally engulfs the screen with her magical expressions of pain, joy, angst, fear, confusion and loneliness.I felt very empty after the final scene, just as Ellie did. The City of Angels changes you, makes you selfish, egotistical, and almost insane. Ellie knew her pursuit of acting had caused her to become a shell of a person, and as a viewer I really felt her pain.So it was shot with a cheap camera, big deal. The messages where there, contrary to what many other reviewers said, you just had to be sensitive enough to pick them up.This film really transported me back to LA, and made me shudder, thanks 'Eliie parker' for reminding me why I left!

Well, ...(I am rather hesitant to say this)....but, I suspect that this film's audience are people who are already in some way connected to the business. (Of making films, that is). (It seems to me that the humour is mainly intended for them).-0-However, I also want to stress that I did find Naomi Watts' performance outstanding!Up until now, (as far as I am concerned), Naomi Watts has been, basically, "a pretty face". (And a very pretty face it is)! ;-) But in this film she really showed that she is really and truly an *actress*! (And a very fine actress, actually)! -I was impressed!Karl Barkarson,-from Iceland

I just caught this awful movie on the Sundance Channel, and this is exactly the kind of awful, awful movies that give Sundance a bad name.What would possess the filmmakers to shoot this with a homevideo camera, not light it and generally make a mockery of the very concept of film is beyond comprehension.Why would Naomi Watts waste her time on this amateurish gibberish? Who knows? She certainly didn't do herself any good. Her acting is usually quite flimsy and without a professional movie to fall back on, she is as uninteresting as it gets.Don't waste your time.

How could anyone like this self-indulgent, over-rated, bore-fest of a film. Alright, lets start on the technical side of things & then work up to (or should i say down to) the personnel involved. OK. I get it. This is a low budget film. Thats cool. Too many of todays big budget films are diluting the quality of the movie output,year after year,all over the world,not just in Hollywood. I like low budget. Its a more exciting form of film. But this was below the quality you would expect from even the lowest of budgets. I'm not a big fan of DV & this film is the perfect example of why. The scenes are poorly lit, too poorly shot & the sound is at best awful. Surely these are the things that turn cinema into an art form. So why disregard them. Coffey should have spent more time figuring these out instead of figuring out how to get himself on screen. Terrible work all-round. Now onto watts. What was she thinking?. Tour-De-force it ain't. Its over-acting at its worst. She must have taken this role to be "cool" and "hip" but she comes out of it looking the fool and her acting capabilities must forever more be called into question. I know its supposed to be ironic. But she comes off looking desperate to be taken serious as an actor. Its just a bad performance. If i think about it anymore I'm gonna get angry.Look, i know this film has won awards, i know there are people on this site telling you how great this film is. But don't be fooled. This is a perfect case of an industry afraid of critiquing its self. Its as simple as this. This film should never have been released onto the unsuspecting public. The film industry should have had the guts to stand up and say this is not good enough. Go away and do it again. This film lowers the standard of independent films. Its a perfect example of why people refuse to support indie films. I spent my hard earned money to see this. I spent 95mins watching this. Time i could have spent with my loved ones. I got fooled by the reviews. I want my money back. I want those 95mins of my live back. Do not waste your time, money and effort to see this film. It should not be supported. 1 star out of ten is kind. It deserves less but this site doesn't allow that.