Page 6 February 8, 2018 EL SEGUNDO HERALD
Check It Out Film Review
The Actor’s Life: A Survival Guide
Reviewed by Jeff Huttinger, Library
Assistant, El Segundo Public Library
“Success is the ability to go from failure
to failure without losing your enthusiasm.”
-- Winston Churchill
It is quotes like this scattered throughout
actress/author Jenna Fischer’s debut book The
Actor’s Life: A Survival Guide that make it
such an upbeat, yet realistic look at the life
and struggles of a professional actor.
How many of us, at one point or another,
dreamed of becoming a star one day? Strutting
down the red carpet, your name illuminated
on the marquis above, while fans clutching
your latest magazine cover scream your
name? But how many of us actually had the
guts to pursue it?
Well, Jenna Fischer did, and her dogged
efforts paid off in spades. After nine seasons
on the top-rated sitcom The Office, plus numerous
movie roles, Fischer has amassed an
incredible resume and a level of success many
only dream of. It didn’t happen overnight,
however. Part memoir, part how-to guide,
Fischer outlines every step of the journey,
beginning with her own humble roots in
high school theatre. With a healthy sense of
naiveté guiding her along, Fischer headed
to Hollywood where she went on to garner
eight years-worth of amusing anecdotes and
embarrassing setbacks, including a humiliating
encounter with a casting agent that left
her in tears.
From shopping around for the best headshots
to dealing with your first time getting
fired, Fischer is there with advice, tips and
-- most importantly -- reassurance. In fact,
this book is so full of encouragement that
Fischer’s writing could easily come across
as the literary equivalent of a kitten clinging
to a branch with the words, “Hang in there,
baby!” scrolled beneath. While that may be
too saccharine for some, I found it to be a
refreshing reminder that life isn’t a zero sum
game. Fischer genuinely wants the reader to
find success, and that is the mark of a true
professional.
To check out The Actor’s Life: A Survival
Guide, also available in eBook format, or
browse any of our other nonfiction titles,
please visit the library to apply for your free
library card. •
Jeff Huttinger.
Turtles All the Way Down by John Green.
The Original Story of the Irreverent
National Lampoon Finally Gets Its Due
By Ryan Rojas for www.cinemacy.com
While you’ve likely heard the name National
Lampoon, or may count Caddyshack or Animal
House to be among your favorite movies,
do you know who Doug Kenney is? Until
now, Kenney – the comedy genius who cocreated
National Lampoon – has remained
mostly unknown, while the comedians who
were launched from it (among them Bill
Murray, Gilda Radner and Chevy Chase)
have come to overshadow Kenney’s own
fame. The new movie, A Futile and Stupid
Gesture (now streaming on Netflix) highlights
the life of Kenney and the wild rise of this
new school of comedy. Both a silly send-up
as well as a sentimental tribute, Futile is
sure to delight both the purist comedy nerds
looking to get their history fix of the birth
of National Lampoon as well as those just
looking for some low-stakes laughs.
Based on the novel of the same name by
Josh Karp, the story begins back in Doug’s
(Will Forte) undergrad years at Harvard, where
he meets fellow wisecracking slacker Henry
Beard (Domhnall Gleeson). Together, the duo
would create the first iteration of the Lampoon
– a comedy collective that was “really just an
excuse to party.” It’s Kenney who wants to
keep the party going post-graduation, convincing
the more levelheaded Beard to create a
national magazine of their irreverent comedy
for all juveniles. As it turns out, there was a
counterculture of college-aged kids waiting to
embrace a publication like this, whose shocking
magazine covered politics and culture through
raunchy comics and cheeky nudity.
It’s around this time in the movie that we
start to meet the people who would form
National Lampoon’s original writing staff
(Thomas Lennon, Natasha Lyonne, Tony
Hendra). One of the hilarious devices that A
Futile and Stupid Gesture utilizes is a clever
use of meta-awareness, especially when it
comes to commenting on the actors who are
playing the real-life comedians of Christmas
past. It’s this level of self-reflexive nonseriousness
that director David Wain (Wet Hot
American Summer) wonderfully incorporates
into the movie, which conjures the anarchic
and playful spirit of the Lampoon and back
into the movie itself.
As a biography movie, Wain does service
to both Kenney and the story by hitting every
major milestone of the Lampoon’s successes
and wobbly setbacks, straddling the balance of
funny and worry. The flighty Kenney moves
on to bigger and grander ideas: a National
Lampoon radio hour, which introduces new
players Bill Murray (Jon Daly), John Belushi
(John Gemberling) and Chevy Chase (Joel
McHale), who would go on to star in such
films like Animal House and Caddyshack.
It’s around this time that A Futile and
Stupid Gesture explores Kenney’s darker
period. It doesn’t shy away from showing his
crippling anxiety and growing competition
(a certain late-night weekend sketch show
is accused of stealing all of his players).
But not to bring down the mood, as Wain
and Kenney and the rest of his wild team
would surely object if they felt their story
was getting too sentimental. adding further
delight to the movie is a smattering of visual
sequences that bring iconic Lampoon magazine
covers to life right before our eyes. If
Wain was attempting to tell the purest and
most honest form of Kenney’s story, then
he wildly succeeded. If he was looking to
make a silly, wacky comedy with a little
bit of heart for audiences everywhere, then
he did that too. With A Futile and Stupid
Gesture, we finally see the merry madness
that Doug Kenney went through in search of
a laugh – however futile and stupid it may
have seemed.
For our red carpet interview with the
cast of A Futile and Stupid Gesture, visit
www.cinemacy.com
A Futile and Stupid Gesture is not rated.
101 minutes. Now streaming on Netflix. •
Ryan Rojas.
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