The Outsider

I met director Nicholas Jarecki a couple of years back at a Gramercy Park film party. He was celebrating the release of his new documentary The Outsider, but I was there specifically to compliment him on his brilliantly written book about the film industry Breaking In: How 20 Directors Got Their Start (the whole reason I was at the party in the first place was because of receiving the first portion of an investment in a film, and THAT itself could be credited solely to what I read in that book). He seemed stunned that the book had that much affect on someone, until I explained the above to him. Then he was even more stunned.

Shortly after meeting Jarecki, at the very same party, I remember meeting James Toback for the first time, speaking briefly with him, being impressed with his personality, and then simply leaving. A few days later, a friend of all of ours slipped me a secret rough cut of Nick's documentary entitled, "The Outsider - a film about James Toback."

It was brilliant. I understood a lot about Toback after watching the film, including just how nuts he is (in a couragious sort of way). He reminded me a lot of many strong, indie filmmakers I have watched thru the years and admired - he had the maturity, the know-how, and the passion to make filmmaking his full time life's work. Like P.T. Anderson, Wes Anderson, Neil Lebute, Spike Lee, and several others, he learned the art of how to make personal movies with other people's money, but also danced back and forth between the studios, and independent world. A tough tight-rope trick, only really mastered so far by Steven Soderbergh. Low budget indie filmmakers will definitely appreciate this film, as we watch a guy so full of passion and conviction, he, at times, tells the establishment, financiers, and acquistion execs to all kiss his ass. The result is, many films where he said exactly what he wanted to, the way he wanted to.




You can rent The Outsider at http://www.netflix.com/ or http://www.blockbuster.com/, as well as from its distributor's website, http://www.westlakeent.com/