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Delirious

Delirious

Movie · 2006 · 15 people

Friendship in the glitter and fakery of celebrity culture is the subject of Delirious, a 2006 independent comedy-drama that Tom DiCillo wrote and directed as a 107-minute American-British production. It won DiCillo the best director and best screenplay prizes at the San Sebastián Film Festival and the Special Jury Prize at the 2007 Istanbul Film Festival. Its US release was very limited and it took about $660,000, yet critics were warm and Roger Ebert listed it among the year's best overlooked films.

Steve Buscemi plays Les Galantine, a neurotic New York paparazzo waiting for the one career-making shot. He meets Toby Grace (Michael Pitt), a homeless young man who wants to act, and takes him on as an unpaid assistant. When Toby falls for pop star K'harma Leeds (Alison Lohman) and becomes a reality-show star, Les takes the success personally and their friendship is tested. Gina Gershon and Elvis Costello are also in the cast.

DiCillo developed the idea after the failure of his previous film in 2001 had drained his enthusiasm for filmmaking. He fought the studios to shoot in New York with actors of his choice, and a small budget forced cuts. The story echoes Midnight Cowboy and the Cinderella tale. A director's cut reached Blu-ray in 2020.

DirectorTom DiCillo

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Cast

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Steve Buscemi Steve Buscemi Film actor · 68 years old Gina Gershon Gina Gershon Film actor · 64 years old Michael Pitt Alison Lohman Elvis Costello Kevin Corrigan Richard Short David Wain Peter Appel Doris Belack Kristen Schaal Kristina Klebe Tom Aldredge Lynn Cohen Callie Thorne

Through different eyes

Cinephile Looks at script, editing and directing choices; keeps a distance from formula films.

DiCillo's script lays two familiar patterns on top of each other: a male friendship that bears traces of Midnight Cowboy and the Cinderella road to overnight fame. The mix gives the film a tone that is both bitter and fairy-tale, and its best screenplay and best director prizes at San Sebastián are no accident. Les Galantine is a well-built character, clinging tightly to his own small world, both pitiable and exasperating. The weak spot is the mark of the low budget: cut scenes and locations leave the story a little thin, in my view especially where it should show the glitter of the celebrity world. That Roger Ebert listed it among the year's best overlooked films is, for that reason, a fitting consolation.

History & Society Lens Asks about the period, the social background and what the work reflects.

The film takes a close look at the fame economy of the mid-2000s: a paparazzo chasing celebrities, a homeless young man who wants to act, and reality shows that turn people into stars overnight. Toby starting out as an unpaid assistant is an apt detail, showing how easily the labour of those living on the fringes of fame is taken for free. More interesting is that the friendship between the paparazzo and his assistant is tested the moment one of them becomes visible: the film suggests that visibility works like a new class divide. A satire of the period's media culture that never tips into exaggeration.

Family Viewer Asks whether the whole household can watch it; cares about humour and heart.

The main themes are fame, ambition and a friendship put to the test. It will not do much for small children; the troubles in this story are grown-up troubles. Watching it with high-school-age teens could be a good way to start a conversation about wanting to be famous. It is worth checking the language and some scenes beforehand. The pace is gentle, so children hoping for action may get bored.

These are not reader reviews: they are short editorial takes written from different viewer perspectives with AI assistance. Reader reviews are below.

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