I Love Your Work
| I Love Your Work | |
|---|---|
 I Love Your Work Promotional Movie Poster | |
| Directed by | Adam Goldberg |
| Produced by |
Chris Hanley David Hillary Josh Newman Adam Goldberg Michael Williams |
| Written by |
Adrian Butchart Adam Goldberg |
| Starring |
Giovanni Ribisi Franka Potente Christina Ricci Joshua Jackson Marisa Coughlan Jason Lee Lake Bell Vince Vaughn Rick Hoffman Shalom Harlow Jared Harris Elvis Costello |
| Music by | The Room |
| Cinematography | Mark Putnam |
| Edited by | Zac Bell |
| Distributed by | THINKFilm |
Release dates | November 4, 2005 |
Running time | 111 Minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $1,600,000 (estimated) |
I Love Your Work is an American psychological thriller film completed in 2003 and released theatrically in 2005. The film was directed by Adam Goldberg and written by Goldberg and Adrian Butchart. An indictment of celebrity culture, it was not a commercial success. The cast includes Giovanni Ribisi, Christina Ricci, and Vince Vaughn.[1] The movie premiered on September 5, 2003 at the Toronto Film Festival.[2]
The DVD was distributed by THINKFilm on March 28, 2006.
Plot summary
Gray Evans, a movie star, is losing his grip on reality, unable to adjust to his own celebrity, and addicted to romantic fantasies about idealistic love and his once simple life. With his celebrity marriage to the beautiful actress Mia already strained by jealousy and frustration after only a year together, Gray is looking for escape. An avid photographer, his voyeuristic nature leads him to a local video store, where an encounter with the video clerk's wife Jane leads to a dangerous obsession over what he imagines to be an ideal love. Gray falls further over the edge, as his conceptions of love and reality are further blurred by the similarities between Jane and his ex-girlfriend Shana to the point where obsession becomes delusion. Gray's life is further complicated by the realities of his own celebrity, an obsessive fan and the need for him to create his public persona as a successful man with a successful marriage. Profession, obsession, and delusion twist together beyond repair when Gray pulls the video clerk, an ambitious screenwriter, into his world by offering to make a movie with him. Their relationship succeeds in bringing him closer to Jane but takes away any last hold on reality, as his fantasy leads to destruction. The layered narrative swings around on itself, taking us on a journey through love, madness and paranoia all the while holding on to a darkly comic view of its own absurd world of crazy Russian bodyguards, loyal assistants, playboy producers and true celebrity.[3]
Cast
- Giovanni Ribisi – Gray Evans
- Franka Potente – Mia
- Joshua Jackson – John Everhart
- Marisa Coughlan – Jane Styros
- Christina Ricci – Shana
- Jason Lee – Larry Hortense
- Rick Hoffman – Gray's Attorney
- Vince Vaughn – Stiev
- Shalom Harlow – Charlotte
- Jared Harris – Jehud
- Lake Bell – Felicia
- Elvis Costello – Himself
- Haylie Duff – Fan
Themes
The cause for Gray’s madness in the film is his obsession with himself. Even Gray's profession revolved around narcissism. Being an actor, he was constantly watching himself in movies and magazines. For example, in the beginning of the film Gray was at his movie with Shana where he was watching himself in the movie while he was chased by himself. An example of Gray's narcissistic tendencies is when he was having a dream where Gray and Shauna were sitting on their couch watching themselves on television watching themselves watch television. Another example of Adam Goldberg's adaptation of narcissism is where Gray was glancing at the television and a talk show about narcissism just happened to be playing, and the host's guest seemed to be directing the full weight of her attention upon Gray. Gray, being so wrapped up in his own thoughts, completely disregarded what the woman had said. The selfish behavior and concern only for his career cause him to end up with the life he always dreamed of. However, he realizes the life he dreamed of does not make him happy and regrets all that he has done.
Symbolism
Since Gray keeps confusing the three characters with each other and himself, it's only fitting that their names, John, Jane, and Shauna, are all variations on the same name, with the same root meaning ("God is gracious.")
The number 4 appears on door numbers, its release date, and the VHS credit beginning time (1:44:44). It is also present in the film as the video store's address and as the date on which John's letter is written to Gray (04/04/04). The idea of the Four Temperaments He exhibits behavior from each of the four temperaments throughout the film. His disappointment is characteristic of the melancholic, his anger and instability true of the choeric, during his day at the park he is trying to fit in as the sanguine temperament strives to, and the lazy phlegmatic who is calm and unemotional as Gray is towards Mia near the end of the film.