hkr4627@acf4.UUCP (Hedley K. J. Rainnie) (04/21/85)
LOST IN AMERICA directed by Albert Brooks is a short, funny and concise
piece: what we've come to expect from Mr Brooks. As in his previous
films, he plays the main character: this time a successful yet insecure
creative director at a major LA advertising firm. Instead of receiving
the promotion he is expecting, he is told that he is to be transferred to
New York. His response to this turn of events gets him fired
At this point, he realizes that he has been too "responsible" in life, that
his 60's friends who took off time to "find themselves" were not foolish.
It's his turn. He envisions a trek across America reminiscent of Easy Rider.
He convinces wife Julie Haggerty to quit her job ("Quit. Quit your job.
I did it, you can too!") and together they sell all their assets and buy
a Winnebago and build a 150,000 dollar "nest egg." Unfortunately, they
lose their nest egg in Las Vegas, and must drastically change their plans.
Brooks' personality is similar to that he played in MODERN ROMANCE. His
advertising job in LIA is similar to his film editor job in MR. They both
reflect his character: somewhat creative, somehow artistic and yet somehow
bogus at the same time. It's a professional world where success is
measured by the number of new ideas one can formulate in a week,
and creativity is decided and judged by committee. It's a world that is
subtly mad, undoubtely influenced by Brook's own experience (especially
in the motion picture business in MR)
The manic behavior of Brook's character is a result of his persistent,
single minded persuit of whatever his goals are at the moment. In MR,
it is regaining his girlfriend (Kathryn Harrold) and in LIA it is
the persuit of his new identity. These goals are often transient: in
the beginning of MR, he actually dumps the girl he will spend the
entire movie trying to regain. Near the beginning of LIA, he is on the
telephone agonizing over the color of his new Mercedes with a very
sardonic dealer, a situation which is the antithesis of his later
decision. Brooks is the archetypical seventies-man: an ultra-resonable,
laid back exterior hiding a large number of serious hang-ups.
The film itself is rather single-minded in developing its theme of Brooks'
and Haggerty's liberation from responsibility. Very little intrudes
into the development of this theme. As a result, there is less development
of Brooks' character, and the film is somewhat less personal than MR. But
unlike MR, LIA offers true resolution at its very funny ending.
All in all, if you liked MODERN ROMANCE or Albert Brooks' other work,
you'll like LOST IN AMERICA. It's classic Brooks and that means clever
and meaningful humor.
-r-