Pipe Dream (film)

2002 American film

October 4, 2002 (2002-10-04) (Limited)

Running time

91 minutesCountryUnited StatesLanguageEnglish

Pipe Dream is a 2002 romantic comedy film, starring Mary-Louise Parker and Martin Donovan. The film was directed by John C. Walsh, who previously wrote and directed the film Ed's Next Move.

Plot summary

In New York City, David (Donovan), a plumber who is unsuccessful with women, creates a new identity as David Coppolberg, a film director, as a way to meet women. Due to his good looks and unfamiliarity with film, which passes for inscrutability, he is considered an indie talent. Complicating the situation is the script stolen from Toni (Parker), who in turn uses his success to further her own ambitions.

Cast

Martin Donovan as David Kulovic
Mary-Louise Parker as Toni Edelman
Rebecca Gayheart as Marliss Funt
Anthony Arkin as Cousin Mike
Marla Sucharetza as Lorna Hufflitz
Kevin Carroll as RJ Martling
Kevin Sussman as James
Natalie B. Pyper as Melanie Phillips
Guinevere Turner as Diane Beltrami
Peter Jacobson as Arnie Hufflitz
Jill Hennessy as Marina Peck

Reception

Entertainment Weekly film critic Owen Gleiberman called Pipe Dream "One of the funniest films I've seen this year...".^[1] The picture was also dubbed "neo screwball" by Karen Durbin of the New York Times. Durbin notes, "In bringing class tensions into play for his sparring lovers, Mr. Walsh...revives an aspect of classic screwball that has become almost taboo in Hollywood even as the sexual strictures that once fueled the genre have dissolved."^[2]

Pipe Dream was featured in Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan's 2004 book Never Coming To A Theater Near You. The book features a group of some less-widely seen films he felt deserved more attention. Of this film and John C. Walsh's previous film Ed's Next Move, Turan writes, "The two films share Walsh's unmistakable sensibility, a gentle and unforced way of examining the vagaries of human behaviour that is as sure-handed and insightful as it is understated."^[3]

References

^ "Pipe Dream Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
^ "FILMS: RUSHES; From Bathroom To Bedroom To Romance". The New York Times. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
^ Turan, Kenneth (November 2005). Never Coming To A Theater Near You. PublicAffairs. ISBN 9780786723942. Retrieved June 7, 2013. {{cite book}}: |work= ignored (help)