A Skouras Pictures release of a Poe production. Produced by Steven Starr, Amos Poe. Directed, written by Starr.
Joey Breaker - Richard Edson
Cyan - Cedella Marley
Alfred Moore - Fred Fondren
Hip Hop Hank - Erik King
Jennie Chaser - Gina Gershon
Wiley McCall - Philip Seymour Hoffman
Esther Trigliani - Mary Joy
Sid Kramer - Sam Coppola
Larry Metz - Michael Imperioli
Karina Danzi - Olga Bagnasco
Lester White - Laurence Mason
Of interest mainly to tradesters, "Joey Breaker" is an inside look at a New York movie talent agent. Lack of visual pizazz plus miscasting severely limit indie pic's breakout potential.
Former William Morris agent Steven Starr makes some good points in his knowing script, but as a debuting director ends up with more of a radio play than a motion picture. Film simply doesn't move.
Richard Edson portrays Joey Breaker, a high-powered Gotham agent juggling young clients and hoping to advance at Morgan Creative, where he was promoted from the mailroom 10 years ago. He's eager to sign black comedian Hip Hop Hank (Erik King) and is working with colleague Jennie Chaser (Gina Gershon) on arranging a studio auction for the spec script of novice screenwriter Larry Metz (Michael Imperioli).
Breaker is styled as a user, with the viewer quickly tagging him as a selfish guy. Homophobia and sexism get him intotrouble but also serve as key plot devices. He begins to see the light when he starts a friendship with Alfred Moore (Fred Fondren), a man dying of AIDS, after first treating him like a pariah. His callous remark to Hank about Hank's male lover Lester (Laurence Mason) almost costs him this client's trust, cueing more consciousness-raising.
Matters really come to a head when Breaker's offhand sexist remark about Chaser causes her to quit the agency and go to work for a rival. This occurs during the bidding war for Metz's script (termed "a cross between 'Twins' and 'The Flintstones' " by Chaser). Poor Breaker has to face his boss after Chaser sells it for $ 1 million to a British production company on behalf of her new agency, leaving him high and dry.
Starr schematically builds a '60s-type choice for this poor man's Sammy Glick. A romance with Jamaican waitress Cyan (Cedella Marley) ends when she moves back to Jamaica as a nurse. Breaker predictably throws away his career and exits the rat race to be with her.
Starr films all this with an aloof, mainly static camera, sometimes staging entire scenes in mastershot alone to dull effect. Despite setting the story in media capital New York, he fails to capture the city's atmosphere or its vibrant club and theater scene.
Edson is problematic in the central role of Joey Breaker, as he underplays the fast-talking smoothie. Marley is appealing as Edson's romantic interest, but there's no heat between them.
As Edson's gung-ho assistant, Philip Seymour Hoffman consistently upstages the star with bravura thesping, building on the strong impression he made as the weak-willed preppy opposite Chris O'Donnell in "Scent of a Woman." The late Fred Fondren as the AIDS victim has a touching scene commenting on his unfulfilled dream to become a writer.
Camera (Duart color), Joe DeSalvo; editor, Michael Schweitzer; music, Paul Aston; production design, Jocelyne Beaudoin; costume design, Jessica Haston; sound design, Janet Lund Robbins; assistant director/associate producer, Dolly Hall; production manager/line producer, Louis Tancredi; casting, Deborah Aquila. Reviewed at Museum of Modern Art, N.Y., Feb. 18, 1993. (In Santa Barbara Intl. Film Festival.) MPAA Rating: R. Running time: 92 min.
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Date in print: Wed., Mar. 10, 1993