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A satire defeats its own purpose when it becomes an all-out farce. Especially when it's a very unfunny all-out farce. Such is the fate of notorious screenwriter Joe Eszterhas' latest effort, "An Alan Smithee Film Burn Hollywood Burn."
It attempts to spoof Hollywood's massive egos and chaotic power struggles, much like the infinitely better "Network" treated the television industry more than 20 years ago, but instead withers away with each gag that backfires.
The film's scenario is promising at first glance: a veteran film editor, played by Eric Idle ("Monty Python's Flying Circus"), is finally given his big shot to direct.
However, his blockbuster action movie "Trio," with its "Titanic"-like budget and huge advertising campaign, spins out of control and takes the rookie filmier down with it.
Members of the Directors Guild of America can use the pseudonym Alan Smithee when, for whatever reason, they don't want their name associated with a project.
The running joke in "Burn Hollywood Burn" is that Idle's character is named ... Alan Smithee. Get it?
Distraught because his name will be forever linked with this mess, Smithee takes the film's original print hostage and threatens to send it up in flames.
He is pursued by manipulative producer James Edmunds (Ryan O'Neal) and studio executive Jerry Glover (Richard Jeni), who both limited Smithee's creative influence on "Trio," and who stand to gain the most if the picture ever reaches theaters.
"Burn Hollywood Burn" is told as a documentary, as O'Neal, Jeni and Idle take turns overacting. A relentless cast of celebrities, such as Sylvester Stallone, Whoopi Goldberg and Jackie Chan (the stars of "Trio"), add nothing to this dismal experience except more bad lines.
Larry King, Robert Shapiro, Billy Bob Thornton, Robert Evans and seemingly any other recognizable face who happened to walk by during shooting are among those who make cameos. They undoubtedly will wish someone had taken kerosene and a match to the negative of this debacle.
Rappers Coolio and Chuck D, as underground filmmakers the Brothers brothers, provide the only material worth salvaging. They offer refuge to the desperate Smithee and negotiate with the studio bigwigs on his behalf.
The main problem with "An Alan Smithee Film Burn Hollywood Burn," besides a title that is almost as laborious as watching all 86 minutes, is that the jokes come too fast and furiously.
A quality satire like "Network" picks its spots carefully, and the humor works when it launches a restrained attack on its target.
Everything about "Burn Hollywood Burn" is forced, from the credits, which list Alan Smithee as the film's director, to Stallone, Goldberg and Chan trying to be clever.
Eszterhas has bombed before with "Showgirls" and "Sliver," so this picture should incite the type of abuse he knows well. It's deja vu all over again; well, at least he's rich.