Many people have mixed feelings about Hollywood, no one more than the people who actually work in Tinseltown and have seen behind the curtains. To know that beneath all the glitz and glamour is a world of people who need help that get passed by on the streets everyday while dreams are made just around the corner in a sound stage. Chris Rock has been in the industry since the mid 80’s and while a megastar in his own right his directing career has taken a sort of side quest if you will sometimes successful but consistently engaging. In 2003 he began a film directing career with the continuously hysterical “Head of State” that has only grown better over time. But it was 2014’s “Top Five” that allowed critics to see him beyond the comedic career and dancing zebra voice work and understand that Rock a lover of film wants his own mark on the industry. While “Top Five” didn’t mean itself well financially it allowed Rock to be a name that both filmmakers and actor friends alike continue to feel drawn to knowing this darker side of Rock may be his most intriguing. But nearly twelve years later and one very major world stopping event (that unfortunately will forever be synonymous with Rock) the writer director is back with a rougher and without question darker approach to fame. MISTY GREEN starring Rosalind Eleazar in a show stopping role of vulnerability has a lot to say, it is the kind of film that is deeply enraged and all around quite justified. But it is also one where its own creator struggles to get out of his own way (specifically an unneeded self-casting) forcing the tonal shifts to never quite allow its ideas to grow beyond frustrating. MISTY GREEN is the kind of film that earns its shocking moments more based around that far too many filmmakers take a softer blow to the industry, while Rock is ready to duke it out for a full twelve rounds. And much like its titular character it is not going down easy even if its biggest adversary is staring right back at itself in the mirror.
Misty Green (Eleazar) needs to get out of her apartment. To put it more bluntly she needs to “get the fuck out.” Awakening from a drunken night by a very angry ex-wife of her now deceased sugar daddy, Misty is anything but ready to greet the day. Barely kept together by yesterday’s club clothes Misty is given seven days by her Celine (Amy Landecker) to move out of the beach side Los Angeles apartment. She is only given the grace period because Celine recognizes Misty as the actor from a hit cable drama “Red Eye” (it came on after Scandal). Noticing an Emmy statue for her work it is more than apparent that this is where Misty’s success reaches its end. Misty, a hit show behind her is receiving any offers and fights back on the advice that her friend Naomi (Anna Kendrick) gives her to keep self-taping and suck up her pride to keep working with a casting director Misty wronged in the past. For Misty these trials are much easier solved through an eightball of coke in the club bathroom or drinking her way against all her issues including taking care of her brother Jay (Daniel Kaluuya) a schizophrenic who may or may not be on his meds after being discharged from care. Rock throws a ton Misty’s way, and his script (written by himself) seems to enjoy throwing as much welcomed shade to Hollywood as he can. In every glamorous frame there are several homeless people in the background bringing a consistent awareness to everyone who passes by them numb to the crisis. Rock does not need to use the film to highlight his own charitable acts that he may or may not exhibit, but he certainly wants his film to be an expression of the lack of empathy that flows through the streets, into casting rooms and far into the inhabitants of Los Angeles’ entertainment scene.
Even as Misty finds herself auditioning for a thankless (and quite racist) role in a possible show there is always the aurora of lack of respect in every room she enters. Her audition is interrupted when the star of an upcoming “Dreamgirls” reboot enters the room, but even for all the distractions nobody is more harmful to Misty than Misty herself. Her addiction leads her back to a director friend Zach (Adam Driver) who both supplies her with drugs and offers her a chance to fly out to Dubai to get paid to be of service to a prince. Driver who continuously balances his career with sweethearts and utter lowlife’s blends into Rock’s dark script with ease. But even the better men in her real come with deep complications. Her brother Jay (Daniel Kaluuya) claims to be getting his life in order but his mental health is not on the frontline as his outbursts are growing more frequent once again and dangerous. Kaluuya who had a meteoric rise hasn’t been seen on screen since 2022’s “Nope” and his presence immediately reminds you why he should never leave our screens. Kaluuya has a great balance here of love, anger and fear especially on the backdrop of constantly being pulled over by the cops as they search for a killer on the loose with the description of just” Black male.” Kaluuya however is far too limited and while he is a strong stand in for the way Black men are perceived when struggling with mental health it is all too infrequent to fully understand Rock’s discussion outside of “we need to do better.”
It is bizarre that in a film titled “Misty Green” even Misty herself becomes too latched on as a character to another character that would work better as a supporting smaller role. When Misty bumps into her former director friend Jordan Green (Chris Rock) she learns that he is directing the “Dreamgirls” reboot and her attraction or at least needs grow stronger. This would work better if it was mostly expressed by Misty but Rock seems to want to take the wheel as a performer as well and while Jordan is there to help better see the way success means something very different when it comes to race, Rock still feels overbearing in his own film and his performance cannot match that of his scene partner. But when Rock does get out of his own way the film shines in both not backing down to conventional happy go lucky ideas but also just knowing there is so much that happens in Hollywood so it should not be surprising when the film veers off into stranger more dangerous territory. But all this is due to Eleazar being a show stopper of a performer as Misty. There is not a false note from her in the entire run, and while Misty seems like the off the rails role where shouting becomes acting it is commendable to watch Eleazar take the more subtle road. Eleazar who is best known as the more aggressive member of Slought House on Apple TV’s “Slow Horses” holds back that anger even in times where Misty is drugged out, enraged and scared. This isn’t to call Misty weak far from it but instead Eleazar seems to have known a few Misty’s in her time and therefore pursues Rock’s understanding that while many have it hard in Hollywood, they aren’t always helping themselves to make things easier. So what does this mean for Rock’s future as a citizen of L.A.. Well even as Rock displays Los Angeles whether it be his Pinterest style opener or its dead-on satire ending, there is the understanding that Rock is tired of L.A. but he also does not appear to have any intentions on leaving. Is he contributing to the problem? Perhaps, there is no concrete way to say for sure, but as an entertainer Rock ebbs and flows. He can push buttons and also gain sympathy right away. Unlike Misty Green, Rock has that privilege but for Misty and his film some grace period may be needed before diving back into their madness.
B-
MISTY GREEN IS PART OF THE NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL IN THE MAIN SLATE. IT WILL BE RELEASED IN THEATERS OCTOBER 9 FROM A24
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