Nothing

Summing up the "plot" himself, filmmaker Evan Aaronson writes: "Have you ever wondered why your life never shaped up like you planned? Well, I did. In fact, I made a film about it. I recorded my telephone calls, and pestered friends and family...and traveled around the world to figure out where it all went wrong. What I discovered was something I never expected...." Now the idea of a filmmaker trying to analyze his life by capturing it on film can be as enlightening for the viewer as it is (hopefully) for the filmmaker. (Jim McBride's David Holzman's Diary [1968] and Ross McElwee's Sherman's March [1986] come immediately to mind as two such experiments that ended in great films.) Unfortunately, the key to success in such an experiment is unflinching introspection by a subject of sufficient depth and interest, strengths missing from Nothing. Indeed, it would be hard to think of a less film-worthy subject than the clueless, self-indulgent, and seemingly vacuous Aaronson, and the result is an amateurish and very grating 85-minute home video. Near the end of the film we learn that Nothing is less 'found art' than a tale largely scripted by Aaronson, an unfortunate confession on the filmmaker's part. While we might be understanding if such a subjective experiment failed to engage third-party observers, a film this dull by design is inexcusable. Not recommended. (S. C. Sickles)