This So-Called Disaster

I was glued to the screen.

This documentary should be required viewing for anyone who's studying acting, directing or writing. It's the most accurate depiction of what goes on in the rehearsal process for a theatre production that I've ever seen. Such fun to be a fly on the wall while folks prepare for their opening night.

The filmmakers have captured some brilliant moments of honesty & struggle & discovery. You don't have to be a Sam Shepard fanatic to appreciate this film. And with heavy-hitters like Shepard, Penn, Nolte & Gammon... you'll be enlightened by the idea of "process" and how unique it is for each individual.

FASCINATING film!!! I recommend you check it out and see what you think.

Enjoyable documentary on the staging of Sam Shepard's play 'The Late Henry Moss, with a star- laden cast (who are also some of our very finest actors). Some fascinating, and often funny interviews with Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Sam Shepard and others as they struggle through the artistic process. Even more interesting - at least to me- was the actual footage of the rehearsal process, where we can watch how a group with all this great talent slowly finds its way along with the material and each other. Indeed, if I had a complaint it would be that I would have loved more of the work process, even at the expense of some of the talking heads. A must for anyone interested in theater in general or Sam Shepard in particular.

Documentary about Sam Shepard and the star studded production of Shepard's play the Late Henry Moss.

This was one of the choices on IFC in Theaters cable service and since I'm a huge theater fan as well as a fan of most of the people involved I figured I would give the film a shot. While its great to see how play is rehearsed and put together I found it all very disjointed and ultimately a mess. I know part of my problem going in was that I was completely unfamiliar with the play. Now having seen this film I feel I'm considerably less so. I'm sure that had I had some clue as to what the play was about the scenes we see being worked on might have had some resonance, instead of just seeming to be random.Many people have compared this to Looking For Richard, Al Pacino's film about Richard the Third, while that film had what seemed like random scenes, the play is part of our cultural heritage and so the plot is known by most people. Also that earlier film deals with Shakepeare and interpreting the Bard, things are put into a context. Thats not the case here. Here we have a good many talking heads talking about the production, Shepard, and Shepard's plays, and the autobiographical nature of what Shepard writes (and biographical stories). Its a jumbled mess that never really seemed to come together. Half an hour in I started to fast forward. It just never grabbed me or made me know what I was watching.

A miss.

The documentary "This So-Called Disaster" is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of Sam Sheppard's semi-autobiographical play "The Late Henry Moss," which debuted in San Francisco in 2000. Being himself the son of an alcoholic father, Sheppard drew upon his own personal experience for this cathartic tale of two brothers' coming to terms with the death of their own alcoholic father. The actors in this production include Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Cheech Marin and Woody Harrelson. As Penn says at one point, Sheppard's plays often deal with the theme of men trying to forge their identities in a world with no clear-cut definition of what a man is supposed to be. This theme filters through in both the snippets of the play we see being worked on in the rehearsals and in the on-camera interviews with Sheppard and many of the principal performers in the production.

It's a tribute to both the power of Sheppard's writing and the talent of the actors playing the roles that we find ourselves wanting to see this play merely from the glimpses we get of it in rough-cut form. Anyone interested in playwriting and fine acting will be mesmerized by the nuts-and-bolts aspects of this film, as it shows us just how a theatrical work, involving some of the greatest talents in modern drama, ultimately comes to fruition.

It's no "Looking for Richard," but "This So-Called Disaster" has much to offer the serious theaterphile.

Anyone interested in theater will love this. Most others will too. An excellent documentary of the theater. You see the play being made, the resolution of director's vision and actors as they struggle to find their characters. The interviews with Shepard are sometimes excellent. That's the first movie. Then you get enough of the actual play to get the gist, and it is a very engaging play. Movie number three is the back-story about Sam Shepard's father. Plus you get to see Penn and Nolte lounging around like real actors. So there's that little fillip of celebrity watching. These three experiences make the whole that much richer.