An aspiring Hollywood actress, on a visit to a charming North England town, has a brief fling with the town undertaker, who also writes obituaries for the local paper. Returning home, where she works as a waitress at a Japanese restaurant, she tells everyone about the handsome "writer" she met on her trip. Unfortunately, he decides to follow her back to Hollywood, setting up the expected light romantic comedy with asides as the newcomer gains experience about the goings on in Hollywood.
Acting
Tennant's puppy-dog desperation is physically painful.
Writing
Deadpan obituary prose as accidental love poetry.
Direction
Finnish director's outsider gaze on American dream mythology.
Director
Mika Kaurismäki
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Mika Kaurismäki is Aki Kaurismäki's brother—Finland's most famous filmmaking siblings both love deadpan losers in love.
This bombed everywhere but captures a specific 1999 moment when British indie actors invaded American rom-coms before streaming made everything global.
GB
