Shooting Livien

Shooting Livien, the independent feature written and directed by Rebecca Cook, is a movie about John Lennon without actually being about John Lennon. Sound a little confused? It did to me too. That's because Shooting Livien, despite its admirable purpose and goals, ends up being just as confused as its tormented protagonist. In the end, it seems that the movie, like the title character, could be coherent and knowable, it just prefers being crazy.

Shooting Livien follows up-and-coming indie rocker John Livien (Jason Behr, TV's Roswell), who bears more than a passing resemblance to the late Beatles great John Lennon. Livien is soulful and heartfelt while performing onstage, but off it is brooding and solipsistic. His band the Virgins Undone, comprised of Owen (played by Dominic Monaghan, TV's Lost, Lord of the Rings) and Robby (Joshua Leonard, The Blair Witch Project), is on the brink of stardom, having made their way through the indie circuit. Then, all at once, things start to fall into place for Livien, as he lands both supportive girlfriend Emi (Sarah Wynter, TV's 24) and band manager Brea (played by a very post-Breakfast Club Ally Sheedy) in what seems like the span of a few days.

But despite the newfound success and unwavering support staff, Livien is haunted by memories of his past, which take the form of coke-addled hallucinations of creepy old men, harrowing dogs, and his troubled and suicidal mother. As his personal and professional life take off, his mental state spirals downward as Livien struggles to cope with his inner demons. After a whirlwind marriage to Emi and landing a record deal, Livien's inner struggle becomes too much to handle, spiraling his life almost irrevocably out of control. As the hallucinations become more frequent and consuming, they threaten to destroy everything Livien has attained up till then. In order to overcome them, Livien must do battle with his own tormented mind at the site of several Lennon landmarks, such as Strawberry Fields and the infamous Dakota Building on the Upper West Side.

Shooting Livien follows the familiar story arc of the troubled, yet talented, artist crippled by his inability to cope with the demands of fame, and whose downward spiral threatens to destroy both his personal life and artistic career. Before, of course, the eventual redemption through the love of one good woman. Despite Cook's lofty stated premise of examining the "masks" public figures are forced to wear and the tensions between an artist's public and private creative life, it all feels like familiar territory. Most every biopic ever made follows this formula, right down to the excessively formative childhood trauma. Hell, even most fictional "Great Man" stories follow the same path, to the letter.

There's not much new or inventive here in terms of plot, making Shooting Livien feel rather bland. Unfortunately, the movie sounds better in theory than it

actually turns out. It's not even as if we're treated to any particularly intense scenes during Livien's downfall either. Shooting Livien comes across instead as faux-intense, as if the movie wants to be gritty, but shies away from showing more disturbing imagery when it could. When Livien overdoses, a movie like Requiem for a Dream capitalizes by using this imagery and scene powerfully, but Cook merely elides over it, preferring glib over grit. It's an artistic choice, sure, but one that feels inconsistent with the film's stated aim. What's more, the attempt at deepening the plot by questioning Emi's motives feels tacked on and underdeveloped. Ultimately, it just ends up confusing rather than adding a wrinkle to the plot.

Jason Behr turns in a decent performance as the troubled Livien. It's a tough role to play; go too far one way and you just seem too strange and pretentious to warrant the requisite sympathy, go too far the other and the torment and fall won't seem believable. Behr does an okay job walking this line, though at times he veers toward the former. His performance feels the most strained when he acts the wounded child; his semi-disturbed stare and drug-addled gaze feel far too put-on. I have a hard time people actually behave like this and it's not just an acting stereotype, schizophrenic mother or no.

The performances of the supporting roles, meanwhile, are give and take. Dominic Monaghan is by far the best of the bunch, turning in a great performance as Owen, Livien's best friend. Joshua Leonard is likewise solid as the band's drummer. It's important in a movie like this to have characters to call Livien on his often bizarre action; without them, it threatens to be maddeningly unrealistic. Sarah Wynter as Emi is a refreshing twist on the Yoko figure. There's the requisite jealously between her and Owen, but she comes off far stronger than you'd imagine, which adds to the movie's depth and emotional clout. Ally Sheedy seems out of place as the band's manager; she oscillates between supportive and controlling with no rhyme or reason. And Jay O. Sanders (The Day After Tomorrow) comes across as wooden as Livien's father.

The three original songs, by local NY artist Fionn O'Lochlainn, aren't bad, an absolutely crucial element in a film about the next John Lennon. And yhe camera floats along with the action as a visual reminder of Livien's distressed state. Shooting Livien suffers from its editing, however, which conspires to rob the film of much of its coherence towards the end. Lennon references are thrown in haphazardly and seem unimportant in the grand scheme of the plot. Like Livien, Cook's film could be impressive and shows promise, but suffers due to its own solipsism and pretension. Instead, Shooting Livien merely prefers being crazy.

Special Features:

Shooting Livien contains the requisite Making Of featurette, with

behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with writer/director Rebecca Cook and producer Aimee Schoof. The featurette clocks in at under 15 minutes and seems like it was made more for the benefit of the crew than for the people watching at home. It feels more like a high school yearbook retrospective, where crew members reminisce about their "wonderful times" on set and are shown goofing off and dancing, than any informative behind-the-scenes look at making a feature film.

There is also included a Director's Statement, several typed pages of Cook's statement of purpose and goals for the film. Some of this is a retread from the "Key Message" segment of the Making Of (which, it should be noted, if you have to underline for your viewers, probably didn't come across in the film), and leads one to question Shooting Livien's ability to actually capture or attain these lofty goals. The written format feels stale and even Cook reading the statement on camera would improve upon the mere pages of text.

Besides a handful of trailers for other TLA Releasing films, there is also included the original script for the film, which is an interesting and insightful addition into the creation of the movie. It's quite fascinating to see the differences between the original script and the finished product and is certainly an added bonus for the DVD. The inclusion allows for added insight into the filmmaking process as well as informing any omissions or changes made in the final product. Overall, the DVD is less than spectacular, but this feature is one that works to make the experience at least a little more interesting.

Movie Grade: C+

DVD Grade: C+

Overall Grade: C+