And there are more where he came from. Banker Eli Wallach and high-roller Danny Aiello are harboring the same high hopes for their starlets-on-the-side (Tuesday Knight and Jean Smart, respectively).
These are not six characters in search of an author. Far from it. The author can be sent off for alternations, and that's the whole rude point of this stiletto-tipped satire on Hollywood folkways - the second-best film to address that subject this year.
Had Robert Altman's "The Player" not come along first with a fiercer view of Tinseltown follies, it would have the whole field to itself. As it is, from this secondary position, the film still gets off some splendid potshots with amazing accuracy from Barry Primus, who directed and (with J.F. Lawton) scripted the piece.
The central character of "Mistress" turns out to be Hollywood's favorite whipping boy - the poor put-upon screenwriter whom standup comic Robert Wuhl plays with a real feel for the absurdity of his situation. Mostly, the scribe stands around helpless, watching his original vision get twisted into a pretzel to accommodate the endless needs of his producers and their playthings.
Martin Landau, in another first-class turn as an old-guard wheeler-dealer, unearths the script from a mountain of rejects and tries to inject some young blood into it.
Laurie Metcalf drops by briefly as Wuhl's ever-lovin' to remind him there are things other than Hollywood. Silly girl!
MISTRESS * * * 1/2
Produced by Meir Teper and Robert De Niro, directed by Barry Primus, screenplay by Primus and J.F. Lawton, music by Galt MacDermot, distributed by Rainbow/Tribeca Productions.
Running Time: 109 minutes
Marvin Landisman - Robert Wuhl
Jack Roth - Martin Landau
Stuart Stratland - Jace Alexander
Evan M. Wright - Robert De Niro
Rachel Landisman - Laurie Metcalf
Beverly Dumont - Sheryl Lee Ralph
Parents Guide: Not rated
Showing at: Ritz at the Bourse
