Ebertfest: A Hilarious "Delirious"

Movies like Delirious is why I take a couple of vacation days every year to attend Ebertfest. It is a movie about which I had never heard, and would probably have never seen had it not been shown at the festival. It stars Steve Buscemi, the bug-eyed character actor who became famous as one of the bumbling hit men in Fargo, although he has had many great roles since then.

The movie is very funny, but it is also sweet and poignant. Buscemi plays the aptly-named, "Les," a paparazzi who wishes he were "more." Les is all chutzpah, but has very little to show for his attempted intrusions into the lives of the rich and famous. A good hearted, and good looking homeless kid,(who has to keep denying that he is gay,) Toby, played by Michael Pitt, attaches himself to Les, and then gets a lucky break when a Britney Spears type spots him and picks him up. That sounds like a typical Hollywood formula movie, but it's not.

The movie really is about the need for approval. Les has a crappy apartment, is doing crappy work and has disapproving parents. When he meets Toby, he finally has someone to whom he can feel superior. Toby's lucky break leads Les to homicidal rage.

Tom DiCillo, the director was overcome with emotion when he started talking, after the showing, about the problems he had with the distributors of the movies, and how Roger Ebert helped him out by answering questions and giving him a good review. DiCillo, describing both the movie and his own encounter with Ebert said, "All your life, you sit around waiting for someone to say, 'you're okay.'"

I gave this movie five plus stars, which is darned good for a rating system that only goes to five stars.