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‘First Time Female Director’ Review: Chelsea Peretti Gets Opening-Night Jitters in Her Own Directorial Debut
‘First Time Female Director,’ actor-turned-filmmaker Chelsea Peretti's sendup of the theatrical world, could have used more dress rehearsals.
I’m a director.” Whether she’s trying to convince herself or the ensemble of actors she’s pretending to address is easy to discern, especially given the circumstances of her hiring: Sam’s predecessor was relieved of his duties due to inappropriate workplace relationships and a female replacement is “the medicine we need.” The play itself, a family drama set in the South called “Rain’s Comin’ In,” is replete with bad accents and melodrama in the form of three funerals and 20 back-to-back monologues — details we learn at the three-hour table read, where Sam first realizes she’s in trouble. More weaknesses come on the technical side, especially the cinematography — the film’s lo-fi aesthetic is closer to the likes of “Modern Family,” “The Office” and other sitcoms with faux-documentary elements than it is to “Waiting for Guffman,” an aspirational point of reference to which “First Time Female Director” never lives up.
Or read this on Variety
