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95 MINUTES | KENDALL SQUARE Naomi Watts started working on this ultra-low-budget film before her breakthrough role in Mulholland Drive, back when it was a short conceived and directed by her actor friend Scott Coffey. They developed it into a feature, but the thinness of the material betrays its roots. Watts is a struggling LA actress operating on the lower links on the Hollywood food chain, auditioning for (and not getting) WB pilots and doing most of her acting in improv classes. Coffey shot the film on digital video, and he uses a lot of extreme close-ups; the result is occasionally disorienting but also refreshing, an unglossy look at the life of a would-be star. Watts is impressive to watch, but the film, which follows Ellie as she bounces from therapy session to acting class to audition while practicing lines and on-cue crying in her car, doesn’t add up to much. Watts lays herself bare, but Ellie Parker is still empty.
BY BROOKE HOLGERSON
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