Fired!
Actor Annabelle Gurwitch was fired from a play by Woody Allen. While there are many ways to suffer indignities and setbacks, hers was one that appears to have opened her eyes to other people getting fired. Now that she has endured this most painful of slights, she undertakes to hear about others’ tragic losses of employment. The result is this film, a mix of her story, the stories of other professional entertainers reminiscing about jobs they hated and lost, a theatre piece she created to give voice to the now-employed-but-once-fired entertainment community she lives in, and a dollop of Michael Moore what-iffery. Gurwitch’s job loss was (by her account) quite demoralizing and embarrassing, but it did not end in bankruptcy or the destruction of her marriage or so many things that happen to hard working stiffs across the nation when their revenue stream is abruptly cut short. In making this film, she never quite shakes off a cloak of narcissism, which disracts from her seemingly well-intentioned project. When a welfare mom is recounting how she lost a job unfairly, it’s hard not to wince when Gurwitch essentially says, “yeah, I know - when Woody Allen fired me…”
It is admittedly entertaining to hear professional comedians tell the stories of job losses long removed and well-recovered from. Some of their dismissals came as a result of anything from gross incompetence (Paul Feig) to gross negligence (Andy Dick). We don’t hear about the terror, the poverty, the misery - just the funny parts. In these interviews and monologues (and one puppet show laced with funny bitterness), the film succeeds. Gurwitch lets her professional entertainers entertain, and the topic is being fired. When the movie tries to become Something Important, it suffers from a notable lack of empathy or from the aforementioned narcissism.
Gurwitz (not the director, but clearly the driving force on this project) finds inventive ways to present the various stories and the various ways in which she collects them, but it always feels a little like it’s a joke to her. Sometimes she inserts unnecessary snark or stabs at humor into a sincere interview; whether it is to be witty or to reclaim the attention, I can’t be sure, but it was a real turnoff. She does land a few interesting socioeconomic points in there, but for the most part she seems content to exorcize her Woody Allen pain by sharing the pains of many.
The very important point of where our society is headed with all the corporate cronyship and bottom-line thinking is glossed over for the most part, but it is summed up nicely by the idea that business and consumers should be contributing together toward an economy buoyed by higher living standards for our country rather than “economic growth,” as unchecked growth in any area soon becomes destructive. The amount of damage being done by growth for growth’s sake (outsourcing, downsizing, environmental pillaging) instead of prosperity and affordability is something Fired could really have explored, but chose not to. Rent it, enjoy the storytelling skills and two movies’ worth of outtakes, and then go appreciate your job, if you have one.
MPAA Rating Not rated: R-rated language throughout
Release date 6/5/07 to video
Time in minutes 71
Director Chris Bradley, Kyle La Brache
Studio Shout! Factory
