''Jimmy Hollywood'' is a 1994 American comedy film written and directed by

Barry Levinson Barry Lee Levinson (born April 6, 1942) is an American filmmaker, comedian and actor. Levinson's best-known works are mid-budget comedy drama and drama films such as '' Diner'' (1982); ''The Natural'' (1984); '' Good Morning, Vietnam'' (1987); ...

and starring

Joe Pesci Joseph Frank Pesci ( , ; born February 9, 1943) is an American actor and musician. He is known for portraying tough, volatile characters in a variety of genres and for his collaborations with Robert De Niro and Martin Scorsese in the films ''Rag ...

and

Christian Slater Christian Michael Leonard Slater (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He made his film debut with a leading role in ''The Legend of Billie Jean'' (1985) and gained wider recognition for his breakthrough role as Jason "J.D." D ...

. It was released on April 1, 1994, and was a

box office bomb A box-office bomb, or box-office disaster, is a film that is unprofitable or considered highly unsuccessful during its theatrical run. Although any film for which the production, marketing, and distribution costs combined exceed the revenue after ...

, grossing just $3 million against its $30 million budget. While initially unsuccessful at the box office, it has since gained a cult following.

Plot

Jimmy Alto is a failing actor living in Los Angeles. After increasing frustration with his career going nowhere and with crime in the city, Jimmy, along with his "spaced-out" best friend William, decides to take the law into his own hands. After losing his job as a waiter, Jimmy transforms himself into "Jericho," leader of a mock-vigilante group that videotapes criminals and then turns them over to the police. Jimmy enjoys the free publicity, anonymously, but eventually the police begin to close in on him, resulting in a tense standoff at the

Grauman's Egyptian Theatre Grauman's Egyptian Theatre is a historic movie theater located at 6706 Hollywood Blvd. in Hollywood, California. Opened in 1922, it is an early example of a lavish movie palace and is noted as having been the site of the first-ever Hollywood ...

Cast

as Jimmy Alto / Jericho *

as William *

Victoria Abril Victoria Mérida Rojas (born 4 July 1959), better known as Victoria Abril, is a Spanish film actress and singer based in France. She is possibly best known to international audiences for her performance in the film ''Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!'' by ...

as Lorraine De La Peña *

Robert LaSardo Robert LaSardo is an American character actor. Early life LaSardo was born in Brooklyn, New York. He began his career studying at the High School of Performing Arts in New York City where he became an honors student, before attending the St ...

as ATM Robber *

Earl Billings Earl William Billings (born July 4, 1945) is an American actor, best known as Rob in the television series ''What's Happening!!''. Life and career Billings was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Willie Mae Billings. He has gained recognition ...

as Police Captain *

Jason Beghe Jason Deneen Beghe (; born March 12, 1960) is an American actor. Since 2014, he has starred in the NBC TV series '' Chicago P.D.'' as sergeant Hank Voight. He is also known for starring in the 1988 George A. Romero film '' Monkey Shines'', play ...

as Detective * Rob Weiss as Himself / Director of "Urban Nomad" *

Chad McQueen Chadwick Steven McQueen (born December 28, 1960) is an American actor, film producer, martial artist, and race-car driver. As an actor and producer, he was known for playing Dutch in ''The Karate Kid'' and ''The Karate Kid Part II''. He is the ...

as Himself / Audition Partner *

as Himself / Director of "Life Story" * Harrison Ford as Himself (uncredited)

Production

Robbie Robertson created music for the film and produced the soundtrack, with Howard Drossin providing additional music.

Reception

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

give the film a 22% approval rating from a sample of 23 reviews, with an average rating of 4/10. Roger Ebert gave the film 2 stars out of 4. Ebert praises the actors "who find the right tone for the material", but criticize the plot, which "weighs them down". He concludes "Here are characters who might have really amounted to something, and we can see the movie dying right under their feet." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C" on an A+ to F scale. Produced on a budget of $30 million, the film made less than $4 million in ticket sales.

Year-end lists

*Dishonorable mention – Glenn Lovell, ''

San Jose Mercury News ''The Mercury News'' (formerly ''San Jose Mercury News'', often locally known as ''The Merc'') is a morning daily newspaper published in San Jose, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is published by the Bay Area News Group, a subsidia ...

References

External links

* * * 1994 films 1994 comedy films American comedy films American vigilante films Films about actors Films directed by Barry Levinson Films scored by Robbie Robertson Films set in Los Angeles Paramount Pictures films 1990s vigilante films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films {{1990s-comedy-film-stub