A middle-aged, somewhat dazed-looking woman in a wedding dress and skyscraper heels gets on a bus on Hollywood Boulevard and rides around all night, pondering her circumstances while interacting with a procession of oddballs in FROM HOLLYWOOD TO ROSE (2016).
The would-be bride (Eve Annenberg) has just backed out of her wedding to an overly serious doctor named Stanley. When she encounters two portly young fanboys who come off like a couple of yakky Kevin Smith types, their constant chatter about useless trivia slowly coaxes her out of her shell enough to reveal herself as a fellow dreamer who has trouble relating to the real world and its more mundane denizens.
Later in the film we'll finally get the whole story on The Bride, but in the meantime, she's just a cypher in a sea of strangers (some much stranger than others) each of whom has his or her moment to perform some comic monologue or freak out in an amusing manner until it's the next character's turn.
As one might guess, it's a line-up of the usual suspects--flamboyant drag queens, a stereotypically gay guy, people with relationship problems, people with racial hostility, people freaking out, lovable homeless people, inquisitive little kids, purse snatchers, bikers, etc.
Much of the dialogue is along the lines of Tarantino's "Royale with Cheese" exchange from PULP FICTION, especially when the two fanboys rattle on endlessly about movies, comic books, and the usual stuff as they escort their new lady friend to her next stop after missing the bus.
It stretches a bit thin after awhile, at least during the more aimless chatter we must endure (Mace Windu quotes, Burton's Batman vs. Nolan's Batman) while mining nuggets of interest.
Semi-charming vignettes, such as an unlikely guitar player performing a sensitive ballad before silently exiting at his stop, come and go with varying success. Things briefly catch fire when The Bride runs into her almost-sister-in-law in a yogurt shop and a screaming food fight ensues.
Eve Annenberg is tasked to carry it all with her character's sheer deadpan cuteness, but even the image of a runaway bride fleeing conformity and marital confinement is a familiar one, as Fanboy #1 reminds us when he recalls the end of THE GRADUATE.
Still, after what seems an endless night, her story finally does come to a fairly interesting resolution (with, oddly enough, a visual reminder of yet another runaway bride, this time Bonnie Bedelia in "Then Came Bronson") and the movie ends on a sufficiently satisfying note.
I have a feeling there are those who will really enjoy FROM HOLLYWOOD TO ROSE and appreciate what it's going for--a slice of city life with an assortment of kooky character types and quirky dialogue in a revue-style story. Personally, though, I was keeping an eye out for the next stop.
June 16th Theatrical Release:
Laemmle Music Hall 3
9036 Wilshire Blvd
Beverly Hills, CA 90211
Watch the Trailer:
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