Accidental Love hit Blu-ray/DVD on April 28th from Alchemy
There are oddities in cinema, films that took a turn, lost financing, suffered studio interference, lost or replaced a director, or were abandoned by those involved entirely. There is even an accepted pseudonym employed by directors who wish to not have their name on a project: Alan Smithee. Well, with Accidental Love we get Stephen Greene, a cousin of Mr Smithee, which is in fact an alias given to the director/writer David O. Russell, a man better known for his work on celebrated fare such as Silver Linings Playbook, American Hustle and Three Kings. Originally production on this feature started back in 2008 under the title Nailed and after numerous production and financial issues, Russell left the project and it was completed in his absence and is now released for the first time.
The script was a collaborative effort with Kristin Gore, daughter of the former Vice-President/Internet inventor, Al Gore. Intended to be a satire about the health care system in the United States, Accidental Love tells of of Alice Eckle (Jessica Biel) who gets accidentally shot in the head with a nailgun. Without health insurance she cannot get it removed as it is not immediately life-threatening, it does however leave her prone to wild mood swings and intense sexual urges. Eckle is determined to fight the system and goes to Washington to find her Congressman (Jake Gyllenhaal) for help. He soon takes advantage of her physical proclivities as well as uses her as a pawn to further both his and his party’s political agenda.
Accidental Love has something to say but in no way shape or form knows how to say it. Whether it be looking at the role of government in our lives or the basic human need for access to healthcare, the film takes on interesting topics and squanders them in a mediocre production that lollops from one scene to another, clunky writing and atrocious acting making it a car wreck of a venture. Any attempts at satire descend into an unfunny, farcical affair that at times fully embraces the slapstick. One example includes highlighting the over expenditure of the military complex by showing their determination to build a militarized moon base. In deft hands such over the top ideas could be used effectively to layer comment but deftness is not something familiar to whoever cobbled together Accidental Love. If clever satire is a fine art, this film resembles a doodle by a blindfolded child. It is clunky, inconsistent in tone, shot in an amateurish manner with performances that are frankly embarrassing for all involved. As satires go, this one is as subtle as a brick to the face.
It really is a remarkable cast, presumably onboard due to Russell’s original involvement. Jessica Biel, Jake Gyllenhaal, Tracy Morgan, Catherine Keener, Paul Reubens, James Brolin and Kirstie Alley all make appearances but their work often reflects the schizophrenic nature of the film itself. With Gyllenhaal in particular standing out, it is impossible to reconcile this actor with the one in Nightcrawler last year. The script leaves them little to work with but no one manages to do anything decent with the hand dealt them; this is Benny Hill level work and I feel bad for Benny Hill saying that. It is frankly hard to fathom how this could have turned out any better even if Russell had stayed on board. It is that bad.
THE PACKAGE
Frankly, the transfer for this release seems as sloppy as the production itself. At times clear, others grainy with loss of detail. Sometimes colors are deep and vibrant, others washed out. A real mishmash.
Special features include a trailer. That’s it. The only possible redemption this release could have had was by providing insight into its troubled production but again, it fails.
THE BOTTOM LINEAccidental Love/Nailed has become infamous for the behinds the scenes incidents during it’s production and that clusterfuck is so very much embodied in the final product. A farcical affair that is simply bizarre in how unbelievably bad it is especially when considering how much talent was involved, no matter how much interference there was behind the scenes. An abortion of a feature that somehow made it to full term that only serves to underlines how right Russell was to walk away.