Rent The Real Blonde (1997)

To Dye For - The Real Blonde review by Steve

At first glance this is a typical 1990s indie lifestyle comedy, but as the film- and title- ultimately makes clear, appearances can be deceptive. And indeed this is loaded with thematic content on the superficiality of contemporary New York, the burden of male passive aggression- or even outright hostility- on ordinary working women...

..And more! But this is most of interest as a reflection on the life of a struggling actor and how the wannabes of stage and screen staff many adjacent trades from the low wage economy all the up way up to advertising, including lookalikes, fashion models, pornography... and the ultimate ignominy of a career in daytime soaps.

Matthew Modine is an out of work thespian who does serious work inside his own head, but makes ends meet with a humiliating job as a waiter at upmarket business lunches. Catherine Keener plays his girlfriend who does makeup for advertising aimed at the glossies. And it's hard to get by in the marketplace with any integrity.

There's a familiar support cast playing the chancers, losers, manipulators and sell outs. Elizabeth Berkley has a sweet cameo as Madonna's body double... but the lost dog steals the picture! It's Tom DiCillo's only release with studio money, and it bombed. Now this would be made for Netflix, etc, but it's much better than that implies.