Search - Tom and Francie on DVD

Joe Williams of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch writes,

P. Denny | 05/10/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

""Lately, a lot of smart alecky young filmmakers think they can pull off a mockumentary as sharp as "Spinal Tap," and most of them are wrong. But Patrick Michael Denny has done the trick with "Tom and Francie," a superbly written spoof of low-budget kids' TV. The clever premise that frames the film is that the footage we are about to see represents rough video from a "comeback special" devoted to a pair of 1970s kid-show entertainers. The finished product, we are told, was stolen from the filmmakers' car, and these are the outtakes that were left over. As with "The Blair Witch Project," it might take you a while to figure out that this premise is a put-on and that the sloppy, behind-the-scenes footage is the whole point. In candid-camera style we see Tom and Francie at their least flattering, a pair of relentlessly chirpy has-beens preparing a comeback for which nobody is clamoring. They hire a surly secretary (who has never heard of them), take meetings with skeptical investors, and rehearse upbeat piffle about racial diversity. The supporting cast includes a propmaster who expresses his hostility through his puppets and a gung-ho lawyer who smells a gravy train in the wake of the Barney phenomenon. A particular stand-out is Annie Golden as Francie. Golden was in the film version of "Hair" and in the proto punk band the Shirts. Her apple-cheeked smile makes her a believable kid-show trouper, while her character's perseverance despite a wholesale lack of talent, renders her poignant."

Mockumentary Fans will love this Indy Flick

T. Denny | St. Louis, MO | 05/12/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Once of the funniest Indy movies I have ever seen. Waiting For Guffman-esque. You grow up watching these type of wierd individuals entertain you, and now that you are grown up, this paints a funny picture of who these people really are. Must buy, it won't let you down."