Hopeless Pictures

Reviewed by:
Larry Dobrow

Hopeless Pictures is not, as one might suspect, insider Hollywood lingo for Vin Diesel's production company. It is, however, one of the savvier showbiz satires in quite some time, with its crude animation adding an entirely appropriate coating of absurdity. Created by Bob Balaban, a regular in Christopher Guest flicks, Hopeless chronicles the put-upon existence of Mel Wax, a low-level producer who traffics in titles like There Will Come Soft Rains and A Crock of Happiness (a cooking flick, natch). He's surrounded by a cadre of equally insecure and/or insane execs, directors, and actors, most of whom frequent the same psychiatrist (voiced by Jonathan Katz, drier than month-old toast). Hopeless works because it's neither too broad nor too inside: A poster in the Hopeless Pictures offices proclaims "Lars von Trier is a sissy," while development gal Tracy earnestly tells an equally clueless writer that "Death of a Sales Guy" was written by "Ann Miller's husband." If one of Hopeless' hapless Hollywood wannabes were to pitch the show, he'd likely describe it as The Player meets Dr. Katz: Professional Therapist. Lucky for us, IFC's programming gurus aren't as brain-dead as the characters inhabiting their newest hit.