I Love Your Work

I first heard about I Love Your Work in 2003, when it was released but never accessible. The other day, when I came across it at Blockbuster, I had to rent it. The movie is a convoluted story about Gray Evans, a movie star, and his movie star wife, Mia. Gray is played by Giovanni Ribisi, who is always interesting to watch, if nothing else. He's a really good actor. Mia is played by Franka Potente from Run, Lola, Run and The Bourne Identity and The Princess and the Warrior, all quality movies. Gray and Mia have only been married for a year, and their marriage is a bit tumultuous. They're highstrung individuals with a lot of fans and a lot on the line. I believed that they loved each other in the film, but neither character was very good at acting out that love. Gray is on the verge of a nervous breakdown from the very beginning of the film onward. He is paranoid that he's being stalked, worries about what people think of him, and is constantly trying to avoid the public eye. He hates being a movie star. As much as he hates attention, he ends up befriending a fan, played by Joshua Jackson. Something about Jackson's character John intrigues Gray, as if John's normality could equal normality for Gray himself. Over time, Gray begins to live out his paranoia by stalking John and John's girlfriend, who bears a striking resemblance to a woman that Gray can't stop fantasizing about. It's difficult to tell the difference between the present, the past, and the future in I Love Your Work. Writer/director Adam Goldberg has an interesting idea with this film, but doesn't execute it all that well. What's supposed to be mysterious ends up being confusing, and what's supposed to feel fresh and new ends up feeling a bit stale. I liked watching the film, but I don't think I really understood it. It takes a lot for me to call a movie "weird," but this one fits the bill.