Wednesday, January 25, 2023

The Mad Writer (2023) Slamdance 2023

Portrait of hip hop artist/producer L’Orange aka Austin Hart as he deals with life and the appearance of serious medical condition that could end his career.

Full disclosure going into the film I had no idea who L'Orange was. And coming out I kind of  feel the same way. I'm not sure this film really tells us a great deal about the man. It feels like a portrait of a man who is not comfortable in his own skin.

Forgive me, but because he's clearly so uncomfortable on camera I'm not certain I really have any idea who he is. Yes there are the moments where he is performing and the odd unguarded moment, but mostly this looks like a portrait of a man who is being forced to be "on" because the camera is there.  This goes straight on to the end of the film where L'Orange tells the filmmaker what the ending would be and we get this odd version of that.

Yes we get to know his music and about him a bit, but at the same time this whole things feels off.

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