3 out of 5

covers season 4

Created by: Alex Keledjian

Fascinating for its glimpse behind the film-making scenes, PGL season 4 – as has been noted elsewhere – is also picking up on its “film from start to finish” expose after the reality show boom has somewhat ingrained us with the “language” of the genre; thus the show also becomes vacuous in inadvertently speaking that language, with forced cliffhangers and personality juxtapositions that seem – unfortunately – contrived to make for better drama.  I don’t know if that was the style of previous seasons, and I don’t particularly think of Ben Affleck and Matt Damon as wanting the show to function that way, but whatever the cause, or the purposefulness of its result, it happened, and for every moment that gives some idea of how this process works, there’s another one that causes a raised eyebrow – did they have to enforce that particular constraint?

This time around, Ben and Matt and HBO flip through submitted shorts to pick a director to helm an already completed comedy script.  The initial selection process is the one that feels most “true” to the intended spirit of the show, as there are no personalities involved yet and we can see the clinical decision making process that (might) happen when trying to decide on a project that, yes, at the end of the day, must be financially worthwhile – while at the same time balanced with at least some desire to have it be a good film.  The “reality show” aspects of this start to rear its head, though, when we get producers very clearly “cast” as the bad guys and good guys and voices of reason and etc.  It’s not worth the time pointing out names here, and I’m not trying to suggest that the events we saw depicted weren’t real, just that we’re viewing a subjective selection of footage that only lets us see things in a particular context.

It is at the point of the PGL selection – Jason Mann – that PGL shifts gears into something that almost feels scripted.  Jason is essentially a film snob, and the one most resistant to making himself saleable to his judges.  This is “rebellious,” but true art-house spirits feel fake in this day and age of everyone having access to everything, and Mann carries the know-it-all officiousness of the current generation without the type of awareness that, personally, I think allows for shaping a truly original point of view.  True, we don’t get to see the short films submitted in their entirety, and the clips shown of Mann’s work do look pretty good, but it’s interesting how it seems like there are other favorable directors in the mix, and then we emerge from the pool with the most off-putting (personality-wise) one.  Again, though, we must be wary: we’re seeing things presented a certain way.  And the frame keeps supporting that picture by what happens next: when Jason pretty much rejects the script provided to him (wanting to make a dark comedy with the scriptwriter of… Boys Don’t Cry?), and then starts putting his foot down on filming on film, because… something something.  All of the film-love Jason pursues, unfortunately, seems ill-earned; his technique of shooting scenes over and over again never seems justified, for example, but rather cribbed from directors he admires.  I’m not denying the man’s talents, or his appreciation for movies, just that the personality we’re presented with never really felt like an individual – just a kid putting on that leather jacket and starting to scream anarchy until he accidentally gets a girl pregnant, gets a job, and stops listening to punk rock music.

Reality show nonsense.  PGL forced me to choose a side.

Along the way, battles are consistently warred, and Jason successfully transitions into seeming more like a nice guy who goes with the flow, and the Big Bad producers like squanderers of art.  It is fascinating, but maybe for all of the wrong reasons; season 4 has you getting more wrapped up in the personal dramas than the process of the film-making.  The details are still there, but almost as asides to the He Said She Said nonsense.  The final statement on matters, I think, should be whether or not I want to watch the film being made during the season… which… I have no desire to.  But I would, guiltily, watch another season of Project Greenlight.

Ugh.