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March 2001 Issue

The Barchu as an Aprhodisiac, and Other Tales

Andrew Bender reviews Hit and Runway

Writing a screenplay with a partner is a lot like marriage, says one half of the writing team depicted in the new comedy Hit and Runway, "only the two people actually have to talk to each other."

The writers of this film should know. Writer/director Christopher Livingston and his long time writing partner Jaffe Cohen, a member of the comedy troupe the Funny Gay Males, collaborated on this script which won Best Screenplay awards at the Los Angeles International Film Festival and the U.S. Comedy Arts Festival. It's swell work and funny on lots of levels--Jewish and Catholic, gay and straight, bookish and boorish--an Odd Couple for our times.

Alex (Michael Parducci) is a regular guy who works in his family's café in New York's Little Italy but dreams of becoming a screenwriter. He think he's gotten his big break when a relative comes up with financing for his projects, but Alex has two problems: (1) no screenplays, and (2) no talent.

Meanwhile, Elliot, a café customer played by Peter Jacobson, is an actual writer with actual talent, which should make him just the guy Alex would want to work with, if only he weren't so--como se dice?--annoying. Elliot's everything Alex is not: gay, Jewish, intellectual, neurotic and sarcastic, and naturally he says "no" when Alex invites him to be a writing partner.

Alex finds the proverbial carrot to lure Elliot, in the form of Joey, a cute waiter at Alex's restaurant played by Kerr Smith (Jack of TV's Dawson's Creek--one wonders whether he will ever tire of playing gay characters with "J" names, but I digress). Not only is Joey adorable, he has a thing for Jewish men, particularly the way they pronounce the hard "ch" as in "Chanukah."

And "cchhutzpah."

And "ccccchhhhhazzerai."

"Reciting the barchu is like phone sex," Elliot quips, in just one of dozens of zingers. I won't even go into what happens when Joey accompanies Elliot to his gay synagogue.

Hit and Runway is also the title of the film-within-the-film, an action movie set in the fashion industry, but the story of trying to get that movie made is just an excuse to tell the Alex-and-Elliot story, which develops from circumstantial to angry to respectful and even affectionate, told with sophisticated humor.

I don't recall ever seeing Parducci or Jacobson on screen before. They're both New York based actors who have, I'm told, guest starred in TV series and commercials. They certainly work well together here--Parducci hangdogging like a young Beau Bridges, and Jacobson a modern-day Woody Allen in training. I hope this film launches both of them on to bigger things.

It's hard to believe they'll find much better scripts, though. Hit and Runway was apparently made on a bare-bones budget, but that doesn't stop it from being one of the most meaningful comedies in a long while.

I also hope the film also means big things for the writing team of Livingston and Cohen. Their relationship evidently mirrors Alex and Elliot's--gay and straight, Jewish and Christian, etc., and if the laughs and heart of this film are any indication, the world could use more marriages like this.

Hit and Runway, Directed by Christopher Livingston; written by Jaffe Cohen and Christopher Livingston. Starring Michael Parducci, Peter Jacobson, Kerr Smith, Judy Prescott, Hoyt Richards. Rated R, Running time: 108 minutes. Opens March 9th in limited release.

Los Angeles-based Andrew Bender reviews films for various JFL websites and writes about culture, travel, and food for publications including the Los Angeles Times, Travel & Leisure, and Fortune. This former production company executive and sometime screenwriter also reviews restaurants (and we're keeping his identity secret by not posting his photo).

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