The Outsider (2005)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Nicholas Jarecki

Genre:

Documentary

Tagline:

If you haven't been inside... you've only seen half the picture.

Plot:

Nicholas Jarecki follows director James Toback on the 12-day shoot of his thriller, When Will I Be Loved -- a movie made without a script or distribution deal.

Cast

Woody Allen	...	Himself
Robert Downey Jr.	...	Himself
Neve Campbell	...	Herself
James Toback	...	Himself
Harvey Keitel	...	Himself
Mike Tyson	...	Himself
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jim Brown	...	Himself
John Calley	...	Himself
Damon Dash	...	Himself
Roger Ebert	...	Himself
Bridget Hall	...	Herself
Woody Harrelson	...	Himself
Barry Levinson	...	Himself
Norman Mailer	...	Himself
Bijou Phillips	...	Herself
Power	...	Himself
Brett Ratner	...	Himself
Brooke Shields	...	Herself
Robert Towne	...	Himself

Runtime:

USA:85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Singapore:M18

Filming Locations:

Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

Company:

Green Room Films

Movie Connections:

References When Will I Be Loved (2004)

Awesome insight into an uncompromising filmmaker

From Bugsy to Two Girls and a Guy, you know his movies, but may not know the man behind them. This documentary about James Toback is very entertaining and informative. With only a partial script and 12 days to shoot a feature film, we learn a lot about what it takes to be a director who "makes things happen".

The best scenes show Toback actually directing the actors, demonstrating the difference between directing and micro-managing. There are some great anecdotes from "celebrity guests", and a lot of great insight from Toback's good friend Robert Downey, Jr., who has been in quite a few Toback pictures. (The Pick-up Artist, Two Girls and a Guy, Black & White to name a few). Don't miss the story of how Toback's agent first met him.

Criticism: It's essentially a long commercial for When Will I Be Loved, Toback's latest. It doesn't go too far into how seedy Tobeck's life became when he was younger, and focuses too much on how uncompromising he is as a filmmaker and not enough on what continues to drive him, some 30 years later.