Two weeks ago, an ad popped up on my Facebook page that announced the upcoming world premiere of a "new" documentary about character actress Olympia Dukakis. There would be a debut screening on Facebook Watch and, if interested, you simply clicked the button.
Okay, for one, Olympia is in one of my favorite romantic comedies, "Moonstruck." I'd be part of the somewhat limited audience that was interested in the screening. Secondly, movie reviews usually are a big part of this blog and...well...there have been very few films to critique. I might as well check out "Olympia."
Now I used the word "new" in air quotes up above because, indeed, I think this documentary was sitting on the shelf for a while. IMDB shows it was completed in 2018. A lot of the footage was shot in 2011. There are cameras following Olympia on her Oscar-winning night and that was 1988! Plus some of the talking heads in the documentary were shot at varying points in time and you can literally see them age and then get younger before your eyes.
Admittedly, a documentary about Olympia Dukakis will have a limited audience and probably not get a lot of traction at the box office. That, to me, is probably why it seems to have been sitting around for a few years. But, in 2020, everybody is screaming for anything that is new to them. The producers take a bold route in getting some eyes on their film and, for that, I applaud their efforts.
Predictably, the documentary intercuts Olympia's life stories with her travels today from a film festival in Canada to a visit at her mother's Greek village. Sometimes, Olympia is joined by her husband, actor Louis Zorich, and, at other times, the footage is taken after his death in 2018. The back and forth across several decades does get confusing. And, to complicate the minds of the viewers even further, the film opens with birthday greetings to Olympia on her birthday last June. How can I tell that footage is so new? You can easily see that it was shot on Zoom.
When you do a movie stream on Facebook Watch, it is also challenging to watch the content with all the thumbs and hearts floating across the screen. This was most notably distracting for me. I was having enough trouble trying to figure out how old the footage was on screen.
The highest number of "eyes" that watched "Olympia," per the Facebook counter in the left hand corner, was 2,500. This was hardly a blockbuster but, again, not surprising given the subject matter. I mean, at one point, there is a scene where Olympia is riding in a car during a Gay Pride Parade. She turned to her companion and said "they don't who the fuck I am."
Well, I do. And I watched. And I welcome the ingenuity that the producers showed to get their film some viewers. I guess there truly is something for everybody....even during a pandemic.
Oddly enough, I am attending another such screening in a few days as a documentary about my friend Kaye Ballard gets streamed. And that one has been sitting around as well. Kaye got to see it in a theater right before she died. In January, 2019.
Oh, well. At least, it gives me something to review on my blog.
LEN'S RATING: Two-and-a-half stars.
Dinner last night: Bacon burger.
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