TELEVISION REVIEW
Screenwriting stars aren't born in documentary `Malkovich's Mail'
By Matthew Gilbert, Globe Staff, 12/8/2003
Think of "Malkovich's Mail" as "Project Redlight." The hourlong documentary, which airs tonight at 10 as part of AMC's "AMC Project," is the temperamental opposite of HBO's "Project Greenlight." It isn't about giving hope to eager screenwriters across the country; it's about reminding them that Hollywood -- in this case John Malkovich's Mr. Mudd Productions -- receives far too many blind pitches every year to take any of them seriously.
The show picks a handful of letters sent to Malkovich at his company and then goes to visit the studious wannabes who wrote them. Interestingly, AMC doesn't choose to profile the urban, rectangular-glasses-wearing young wannabes you might expect. One is a middle-age woman who churns out scripts to fill an empty-nest void; another is a man who regrets not having diagnosed his "mood disorder" earlier in his life. And the movies that these Middle Americans propose are also surprisingly unhip, as they imagine strange frogmen heroes and angry warthog attacks.
The reluctant Malkovich appears midshow to read portions of the scripts aloud, and footage of his generous readings is sent to each of the writers. "This is the highlight of my career right now," says Lillian Francken as she watches the star speak her words. These are the sweet moments in the otherwise downbeat "Malkovich's Mail," as we see dreamers far outside Hollywood receive a moment of affirmation. But if they expect Malkovich's brief attention to mean something tangible in the future, they are mistaken. The actor is clear about the limitations of his own influence: "I'm not Tom Hanks," he says. "I'm not Tom Cruise. . . . God bless them, but I'm not. So me liking something or me saying it's good is totally irrelevant."
Not that Malkovich is particularly attracted to the work he reads tonight. But the famously grumpy icon is always respectful of it, even as he's throwing darts at a board featuring the face of Oliver Stone.
("AMC Project: Malkovich's Mail"; On AMC; Tonight, 10-11.)
Matthew Gilbert can be reached at gilbert@globe.com.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
