Having first-hand experienced the world of direct-to-video / VOD business, I can attest to Coup de Cinema’s authenticity, or at least the authenticity of its intentions. The notion of “no one sets out to make a bad film” gets obliterated in the industry’s meat-grinder of mindless action flicks, faith-based message movies, and children fare that’s rudimentary at best. The motto: Whatever Sells. Egos flare, as inflated on third-tier sets as they are on multimillion-dollar productions. “It’s business!” Rick the producer (David Loftus) yells. “I’m not here to make films, Miles.”
“The filmmakers have clearly studied satires of the film industry like Bowfinger and Living in Oblivion.“
The filmmakers have clearly studied satires of the film industry like Bowfinger and Living in Oblivion. Coup de Cinema sometimes amusingly plays out like a heist film. A few sequences are chuckle-worthy. At one point, the director – who thinks “ambient noise” is a French word – quite literally wants everything changed. “Why don’t we just film it in front of the green screen?” the SFX guy points out. “Because then we wouldn’t be shooting it here,” the director logically responds.
What the film sadly fails to do is transcend its ultra-micro-budget roots, with awkward camera placements, choppy editing, and some frankly poor acting. It all seems dated by a decade. Miles’ relationship subplot doesn’t work, weighing the film down. The irony that you’re watching a rather shoddily-made film about improving a shoddily-made film is inescapable. If nothing else, Coup de Cinema achieves the coup of cleverly mocking the kind of cinema it itself resembles.
"…achieves the coup of cleverly mocking the kind of cinema it itself resembles"
Thanks for the review! I think it’s a fair one. As for the movie feeling dated by a decade, I say keen observation! I probably didn’t mention it during the submission process, but it was shot in 2010.