Ellie Parker (2005)

Originally Written
Friday, April 14, 2006

There is nothing worse than a film that has no budget whatsoever, has a horrible story, and a cast of good actors putting forth horrible performances. It's sad but this is what I tend to think of when I hear independent film. You would assume all the time and money saved on having no special effects or huge production costs would lead to a somewhat compelling, interesting and entertaining film... well I guess not. That's my big complaint with independent films there is nothing to fall back on when the story puts you into a coma, and it usually does, at least with a blockbuster if the story is awful you have the action and effects to keep you mildly entertained.

So you can probably guess I'm not a huge fan of independent films, and honestly I have to say Ellie Parker only solidified my opinions by being one of the worst films I have ever seen. Ellie Parker is an aspiring actress, the film is a documentary of sorts on this fictional characters life. following her through her multiple dead end auditions and her mental breakdowns as she tries to figure out who she is.

Right off the bat I hated the way this film was shot, the basic home video look did not work at all for me, especially when the film had nothing good going for it to begin with. The video was choppy and at times the quality and flow almost gave me a headache. The audio quality wasn't much better, half the time I could barely make out what people were saying with the volume turned all the way up. There were a couple shots during the opening audition scenes where Ellie is mentally visualizing herself in the role and all of a sudden the video and audio quality is perfect, because it’s done with a decent camera, really highlighting the mediocre quality of the rest of the film.

Next the story is horrible mainly because there is really no story, I wouldn't be surprised if half the time the actors were winging the film as they went along. From what I have heard this is an extended version of a short film that Naomi Watts and director/actor Scott Coffey put together sometime ago before Watts hit it big. After her new found fame Coffey figured why not try and make this short film into something more! Big mistake, short films are short for a reason, when you have nothing a majority of people are going to want to watch, turning it into a feature length film is pointless.

The acting was terrible as well. I hate to say it but Naomi Watts didn't do it for me, maybe it was the fact that everything about this film was bad, but even her performance was very forced and left me bored out of my mind. Coffey's short appearance was absolutely awful and proves he's not only a terrible director but a horrible actor as well. Even the cameos by a few big stars such as Chevy Chase and Keanu Reeves were a waste.

In the end, Ellie Parker is probably the worst film I have ever seen, I can't think of anything positive to say about it, which is rare. Had the film been shot digital or with a decent camera, similar to the few beginning scenes, I probably would have at least been able to sit through it without practically wanting to put myself out of my own misery. I have to chuckle after seeing that Watts and Coffey both produced this, all that money must have went to releasing this on to DVD, because it's clear none of it went into the actual production of the film. Overall, Ellie Parker is a waste of time, if you’re into really boring artsy films you might find this somewhat interesting but I doubt the average movie watcher would even bother thinking about watching this. Then only group of people I could really see interested in checking this out are fans of Naomi Watts who like myself want to see everything sees done, well take my advice and stay away from this one. It's really quite sad when you've seen things on YouTube done a lot better with absolutely no money, proving that you can make something entertaining with a small budget. All Ellie Parker does is give new meaning to the words independent film, and not in a good way.

0/10