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| Images courtesy of MVD Visual |
While an accomplished film and television director behind
such shows and movies as Girls, Ugly Betty and The Handmaid’s
Tale as well as The Matador with Pierce Brosnan and The Hunting
Party with Richard Gere, the filmmaking career of writer-director Richard
Shepard got off to a somewhat shaky start.
With a promising 1991 debut as a hotshot young indie writer-director in
the star-studded quirky caper comedy The Linguini Incident starring
David Bowie, Rosanna Arquette, Eszter Balint, Andre Gregory and Buck Henry, the
film ran into production-problems including but not limited to cheques bouncing,
final cut being revoked by the studio and the film opening theatrically amid
the Rodney King riots in Los Angeles to meager box-office returns.
Despite landing in the so-called ‘director jail’ for a
little while there after terrible reviews and box office death, the filmmaker
pressed on to his current status and in recent years regained the rights with
his co-producer Sarah Jackson who insisted he restore as well as recut the
film, with which Richard Shepard wholeheartedly agreed. Now the film that nearly ended the filmmaker’s
career has a second chance at finding a new audience in a beautifully restored
4K special edition supervised and approved by the director. Initially on the radar among David Bowie fans
as one of the performer’s few comedy roles, the film which recently screened at
the Quad Cinema in New York promoting a forthcoming blu-ray disc and streaming
release is a miniature cause for celebration sporting terrific performances
from Bowie and Rosanna Arquette, unique costume and production design and maybe
the most peculiar New York based comedy also featuring Arquette since After
Hours.
Newbie British bartender Monte (David Bowie) is in a bit of
a pickle with his two employers Cecil (Buck Henry) and Dante (Andre Gregory)
over a bet that he can marry one of the waitresses at the restaurant he works
at in order to obtain his green card. Pairing
up with fellow waitress and Houdini inspired escape artist in training Lucy
(Rosanna Arquette) who roommates with lingerie designer Vivian (Eszter Balint),
the newly formed trio conspire to rob their employer’s restaurant provided Lucy
marries Monte and secures his green card.
The robbery doesn’t go completely as planned but seems to boost business
for the establishment though amid everything, Lucy forgets to marry Monte and
their ruse is thrown into jeopardy as the employers admit they know full well
who robbed them. Their partnership-in-crime
is put to the ultimate test when they either face jailtime or Lucy pulls off a
death-defying underwater Houdini escape before many spectators to exonerate
them.
Featuring startlingly zany production design by Marcia Hinds
of I Spy, early quirky soundtrack work by eventual American Beauty composer
Thomas Newman and arresting green/pink hued cinematography by eventual Wes
Anderson cameraman Robert Yeoman as well as unexpected cameos by David Bowie’s
wife Iman and Julian Lennon, The Linguini Incident despite having little
to do with linguini (none is seen onscreen) is a consistently entertaining,
weird and fun caper comedy. With a goofy
yet compelling Bowie in one of his zaniest roles yet as well as an always
stunning Rosanna Arquette in another New York based Scorsese-esque venture and
sassy street-smart Eszter Balint, the trio play off of each other beautifully
and make up an amusing ragtag group of wannabe criminals.
As aforementioned, the film came out at the worst possible
time and bloodthirsty critics all but eviscerated the truncated theatrical cut
which underwent several unwanted title changes on its sojourn to home video
including but not limited to names like Shag-O-Rama. Thankfully however, these wrongs seem to be
righted by MVD Visual’s forthcoming director’s cut blu-ray compounded with a
streaming release. Made from a newly
discovered 35mm interpositive found in an Austrian film lab with extensive
color correction, additional re-editing of scenes and reframing of certain
shots, this new and improved final director’s cut of The Linguini Incident is
a solid, playfully weird caper comedy romp with laughs, thrills and even a
little room for some romance. All in
all, an unexpected home run from the eventual director of The Matador with
perhaps the funniest David Bowie role of the late rock legend’s career.
--Andrew Kotwicki
