DVD review: Is "Women in Trouble" worth any of yours?

The first big questions that popped into my head when I heard of the movie "Women in Trouble" were who in the world is Sebastian Gutierrez, and how in the world did he get Carla Gugino, Connie Britton, Adrianne Palicki, Emmanuelle Chriqui and Marley Shelton to all star in his movie?

And, more amazingly, how did he get them to play a pregnant porn star, two call girls and a stewardess about to join the mile high club in an airplane toilet, among other colorful characters? Well, having watched this, I'm still not sure how he managed to pull any of it off, but I can tell you that what he came up with is a little indie comedy that borrows extremely liberally from Pedro Almodovar and Robert Altman.

Fitting the campy style of humor that Gutierrez's movie thrives on, "Women in Trouble" opens with a shot of Carla Gugino in a nun's habit, looking solemn, and it's only as we slowly pan out that we find she is, in fact, a porn star acting out a scene. And at its best, his very dialogue-heavy flick straddles the line between funny and simply tasteless, occasionally finding time to squeeze in some genuine moments of humanity for its very talented, almost all-female cast.

On the seamier side, Gugino plays a porn star who finds out as the movie opens that she is pregnant. Adrianne Palicki, who's best known so far for playing Tyra on "Friday Night Lights," plays one of her co-stars who also dabbles in prostitution, and Emanuelle Chriqui is a fellow hooker who throws Palicki's character work when ever she encounters jobs that requires two women.

Into this mix throw Connie Britton as a very high-strung woman who carries around a big family secret she's keeping from her sister, who's having an affair with the husband of her psychiatrist, and you get the idea that Gutierrez has a taste for drama, and piles it on pretty high throughout.

He attempts to weave the stories of these women together in the style of the late, great Robert Altman, but too often uses the most contrived tricks to accomplish it. It's cringeworthy as Gugino's and Britton's characters come together, yes, as they get trapped in an elevator (though, on the most piggish of levels, they both look great as they strip down to their undies in an attempt to beat the heat.)

And like Pedro Almodovar, Gutierrez does have an ear for writing colorful characters for women, though you still have to wonder how much he actually values them when - many times more than once - his camera stops for several seconds on the ample decolletage of one of his assembled beauties.

That said, his screenplay does mine his often seamy subject matter for some genuine humor, at its best in Palicki's character's tendency to blurt out malapropisms (I won't tell you exactly how it comes up, but be sure to look for for the words "immortal whore" - and try not to laugh out loud when you hear them.) He's just as prone, however, to just plunge right through any semblance of taste, as when the same character delivers a speech about her dog and cunnilingus (I'm not making that up, and I won't tell you any more about that to spoil it either.)

But he does manage to write some genuinely moving moments for his best two stars, Gugino and Britton, who for my money match feminine beauty with exceptional acting skills more than any other two women working today with the exception of perhaps Helen Mirren and Laura Linney. It's in moments like this that you can see just how he managed to lure so many great actresses to take part in this madness and, amazingly, to even talk Gugino into starring in a sequel about the further adventures of her character, Electra Luxx.

As far as DVD extras go, they're truly minimal here, consisting of only a "behind the scenes" feature that is actually only Gugino and Palicki riffing on whether or not they're wearing panties (funny enough in itself), a teaser trailer featuring all the ladies cavorting in a swimming pool (which does at least fit the spirit of this) and "deleted scenes" that are actually just five speeches that various minor characters make to the psychiatrist (though, amusingly, that does include Elizabeth Berkeley, somehow.)

Overall, "Women in Trouble" is the definition of a mixed bag, but clocking in at only 84 minutes or so, it's a genuinely diverting little movie that's well worth a rental if you take your humor with a much larger than usual slice of talented beauties.

P.S.: For anyone who happened to end up here by mistake because the word "porn" appears in this review a few times, my apologies - I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere for that.

In honor of Henry Gibson, and one whale of a good night of TV

You know, it's funny the things you learn about people only after they die. Take Henry Gibson, who just died at age 73 after a short battle with cancer.

In my case, it's not that we're both great actors (though I would certainly argue that he was.) It's that we're both proud graduates of the Catholic University of America. For a school with no particularly famous drama department, I'd say it's at least a bit of an accomplishment that it can count Gibson, Bob Newhart and Ed McMahon (and surely some other stars I'm forgetting) among its alumni (in fact, just a quick bit of research reveals we can also claim Susan Sarandon, Jon Voight and, perhaps best of all, John Slattery of "Mad Men" too.)

But back to Mr. Gibson. Since death comes in threes (with Patrick Swayze and Mary Travers of Peter, Paul and Mary also dying this week), I suppose it had to happen, and of the three his death saddens me most of all. Though I suppose he's best known as a fixture on "Rowan and Martin's Laugh in," he went on to more than 100 TV and film roles, most notably in four of Robert Altman's '70s films, and "Nashville," easily one of my favorite flicks, in particular.

Gibson made a lot of his living playing for laughs (he was even half of a comedy duo called The Hillbillies while at CUA), and he easily could have done that again for the key role of Haven Hamilton in "Nashville." But though Hamilton gets plenty of laughs in the flick, it's the pride he brought to the role that made it ring true.

He was also, in one of the iconic roles in children's movies (at least to me) the voice of Wilbur in "Charlotte's Web" (the delightful cartoon, not the remake I still haven't bothered to see), and in one of his silliest but still memorable roles, he played the (as it's actually credited) "Head Nazi" in "The Blues Brothers." R.I.P. indeed, Mr. Gibson.

OK, enough of that. In much more happy news, it seems that the writing/directing team of Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck have set their next project, and they're about to bring Zach Galifianakis along with them.

Boden and Fleck gained a bit of instant fame with their much-lauded first feature, "Half Nelson," but in my book they did much better with this year's "Sugar." The drama about a Dominican baseball player trying to make it to the Major League spent most of the first half of this year as my favorite flick of 2009, before being knocked from its perch first by "The Hurt Locker" and then by "Inglourious Basterds." A quick Amazon check reveals that it's available on video now, and I really can't recommend a rental any higher than I do this one.

But on to the new stuff. "It's Kind of a Funny Story" will be about a teenage boy who is sent to a mental institution after struggling with depression. There, he's put in the adult ward, where he meets all kinds of characters (Galifianakis included) and even girl to flirt with (Emma Roberts.) Sounds a little meh to me, but I have full faith in this duo, so I can definitely say bring it on.

Switching gears a bit, to TV, I was more than a little happy to see that Jay Leno managed to lose 36 percent of his audience in one night, but also not surprised to find out that NBC still tried to pitch this as "good" news, just proving that they will leave this hopefully quickly sinking vessel out at sea until the last deck chair has fallen overboard.

On a much more pleasant TV subject (though still largely NBC), this would have to be my favorite TV night of the fall season. On NBC, I don't think I'll bother to tune in for the "Saturday Night Live" clip show that will start the night at 8, but after that you can definitely count me in for the returns of "Parks and Recreation" and "The Office" (hearty huzzah!) and then the premiere of "Community" with Joel McHale and, somehow, Chevy Chase. As you can see from the clip below, word of Pam's pregnancy starts to flow around "The Office" tonight, along with a slew of other crazy rumors. In short order, Pam and Jim will apparently try to run off for a quiet wedding at Niagara Falls, but after Michael gives everyone a long weekend off, find they're nowhere near alone. Comedy bliss.

And best of all tonight will be the return of "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia," easily my favorite TV sitcom of the moment. In tonight's episode, "The Gang Exploits the Mortgage Crisis," Frank, Mac and Dennis try their hand at real estate, while Dee arranges to be a surrogate mother for a wealthy couple. And Charlie? Who knows, but I can't wait to find out.

As promised, I'll close with this NBC preview of tonight's "The Office" season premiere. Peace out.

TV tidbits and a glorious glimpse of "The Damned United"

Does anyone else remember the fairly great little documentary "Hands on a Hard Body"? It was a contest doco about a bunch of folks who compete to see who can stand the longest with one hand on a pickup truck, with the winner getting the truck.

For a strange little flick I don't even think you can get on DVD, it's had a surprisingly high number of attempts to re-create it. Robert Altman (and no, I'm not making that up) even had his sights on making a fictionalized version of it when he died, but that wouldn't have been nearly as crazy as this latest reinvisioning (is that even a word)?

It seems that Doug Wright, a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, and lyricist Amanda Green have scripted a musical based on the story, which will be staged at the La Jolla Playhouse in California. And no, even if I concentrated really hard, I don't think I could make up anything quite that crazy.

Except for that, it's mostly about TV here today. I suppose I should change the blog's name on days like this, but since it's my space, I write about just about anything that catches my eye.

It starts today with what could only be called excellent news for fans of "Freaks and Geeks" (and if you're not one, I just have to assume you've never seen it.) It seems that Mike White, who served as a "Freaks and Geeks" producer and also wrote probably my favorite episode, "The Little Things," before going on to pen "School of Rock" and other movies, is now returning to TV for HBO with Laura Dern in tow.

The HBO project will star Dern as a woman who troubles those around her when she undergoes a spiritual awakening. And, I apologize for this in advance, but I keep trying to get rid of HBO, but "every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in" with intriguing TV.

OK, so much for the good news. This next bit just makes me vomit in my own mouth, and not just a little bit either (and I must say, orange juice and kashi just taste a whole lot better going down.)

It seems that, unable to come up with any more ideas for its shows that aren't about fat people, NBC is now going to piss all over the great "Prime Suspect" with what might just be the most unnecessary and downright insulting remake of all time.

Without, of course, Dame Helen Mirren or even series creator Lynda La Plante in tow, it seems that "Without a Trace" creator Hank Steinberg has the hubris to take this on. Thankfully, so far at least, it's just a planned two-hour presentation rather than a series, so maybe this just will go away extremely quickly and will be forgotten even faster.

But enough of that bile. In much better cop TV news, it seems that Fox has picked up 13 episodes of a new show from "Burn/Notice" creator Matt Nix.

Though the premise - an ambitious, by-the-book cop is saddled with a drunken, wild-card partner - sounds awfully familiar, from Nix I know it will at least be a fun mix of action and humor, and that's probably enough to get me to tune in when this hits the airwaves.

OK, for the finish, I suppose I should at least make this a bit about movies, especially when it's a glimpse of what is - next to only Spike Jonze's "Where the Wild Things Are" - the movie I'm almost most looking forward to for the rest of this year.

Based on easily one of my favorite books by David Peace, "The Damned United" tells the rather disastrous tale of Brian Clough's 42-or-so days as coach of Leeds United, a team he despised even as he took the job. With a script from Peter Morgan and starring Michael Sheen, I really don't see how this can be bad, and you can see from the trailer below that Sheen has at least captured the manic nature of Clough that drives the book. Enjoy, and have a perfectly passable Thursday. Peace out.