I Ought to be in Pictures

Synopsis

Wannabe actress Libby has hitchhiked miles to seek her fame, fortune and father in Hollywood. Surely having a Dad who s a screenwriter should help her get a break? Even if he did abandon his family 16 years ago. But she soon discovers that Herb is a writer with a block who has trouble coming to terms with his new role. A charming portrait of an unlikely family reunion from the author of Brighton Beach Memoirs, Plaza Suite, The Odd Couple and Barefoot In The Park.

Our Review:

20 May 2004

In the folio of your average playwright, I Ought to be in Pictures would sit quite comfortably. Within the canon of the by-no-means average Neil Simon it figures as a distinctly lesser work than The Odd Couple, Plaza Suite or any of the 20 or 30 others that we know so well. It is a piece larded with schmaltz and not as liberally decorated with one-liners as we have come to expect.

At the age of 19, Libby hitches her way from New York to Hollywood to catch up with the screenwriter father, Herb, who walked out on her and her mother and brother 16 years earlier. She'd also like to be a film star and informs the errant pa that he owes it to her to fix it, despite the fact that she is clearly perceived to be an experience- and talent-free zone.

It transpires, however, that Herb is seriously blocked, both professionally and emotionally, and that Libby's opportunities to brush up against the glitz rest more with his part-time girlfriend, Steffy...

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Latest User Review

USER: Whatsonstage.com (195.93.34.14) - 20 May 2004:

OK, friend, you may not agree with my review, but at least it's literate. WOS is very welcome to get itself a new reviewer, as it well knows, but at least it will be someone who is prepared to put his/her head above the parapet and be named. IW...

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