Ellie Parker (2005)
TOMATOMETER
AUDIENCE SCORE
Critic Consensus: Despite some poignant commentary about struggling actors and Naomi Watts' inspired performance, Ellie Parker stutters in making the transition from short to feature length.
Ellie Parker Photos
Movie Info
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Cast
as Ellie Parker
as Sam
as Chris
as Justin
as Dennis
as Smash
as Casting Chick
as Rick Saul
as Casting Director
as Acting Teacher
as Himself
as Acting Student
as Upstairs Neighbour
as Himself
as Acting Teacher
as Therapist
as Russian Producer
as Hostile Receptionist
as Rick Saul
as Producer
as Acting Student
as Leslie Towne
as Dogstar Band Member
as Dogstar Band Member
as Trixie
as Acting Student
as Acting Student
as Vicodin Girl
as Acting Student
as Himself
as `Slut' Yelling Girl
as Rainbow
as Therapist's Companion
as Actress Before Ellie
as Russian
Critic Reviews for Ellie Parker
All Critics (48) | Top Critics (19) | Fresh (24) | Rotten (24) | DVD (6)
This low-budget effort about a struggling, shallow L.A. actress who has nightmare auditions . . . stars a sensational Naomi Watts. But she's basically the only great thing in this highly uneven flick.
Like a sputtering career, Ellie Parker pretty much goes nowhere, and it's difficult to imagine that it would be of interest to many beyond the Hollywood community.
The picture looks cheap and feels stretched.
Eventually the energy of the original short runs out and the movie coasts on fumes, but it remains surprisingly enjoyable for all that.
The premise -- someone trying to inject meaning into a necessarily vacuous existence -- is depressing, but there are moments of vaguely uncomfortable hilarity. The whole endeavor, however, winds up feeling flat and a bit dull.
This is the movie they should show in college acting classes, instead of tapes of Inside the Actors' Studio.
Audience Reviews for Ellie Parker
Really entertaining, experimental piece of work with a beyond good performance by Naomi Watts.
Super Reviewer
[font=Century Gothic]There are many actors who pass through Hollywood without becoming stars or making much of an impact. To think if it had not been for the unique trajectory of "Mullholland Drive," Naomi Watts might have been one of them, despite her great talent. In "Ellie Parker," Watts plays the title character, a struggling Australian actress, constantly driving from audition to audition in Hollywood, until she finds her musician boyfriend(Mark Pellegrino) in bed with another woman, followed by her being involved in a fender bender.[/font] [font=Century Gothic][/font] [font=Century Gothic]I have a great deal of empathy for struggling actors as events in "Ellie Parker" remind me of when I was unemployed and going to interviews non-stop. Ellie has an interesting pathology of not being comfortable in her own skin which might explain her wanting to be an actress and occasionally dressing up for auditions but there is not much depth or story in the film. It is odd that Ellie has no visible means of support(she does not have a day job like her friend, Sam(Rebecca Rigg)). And a star vehicle such as this can only make a modest production which was shot on digital video rather unwieldy.[/font]
Super Reviewer
An extremely uncomfortable movie-going experience. I would never watch it again. But Naomi Watts kept my interest in a truly brave performance. Apparently this was supposed to be funny? I think I smiled twice. It's not that dramatic or eventful either. The best way to describe this is "uncomfortable."
Super Reviewer
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