In the Soup

(Alexandre Rockwell, USA, 1992)

In the Soup received a deluxe DVD release in 2004, by which stage it had acquired some nostalgic aura – and a cult status that was confirmed by the successful Kickstarter campaign of 2017 to restore it in time for 25th anniversary celebrations.

In truth, the film is enjoyable, but resolutely scrappy. As things have (so far) turned out, it constitutes writer-director Alexandre Rockwell’s best moment; his career has sputtered along fairly unspectacularly ever since.

Rockwell reportedly based the script of In the Soup (co-written by Sollace Mitchell under the nom de plume of Tim Kissell) on his own experiences. It is a tale of reckless movie financing in a seedy, criminal milieu – akin to Barry Primus’ better comedy, Mistress (1991).

Steve Buscemi plays the young, naive filmmaker Adolfo Rollo as a nitwit – alongside Seymour Cassel as the producer-mentor-gangster Joe, perennially out-of-control but nonetheless lovable.

A bunch of dependable indie-cinema faces – Jennifer Beals (Rockwell’s partner of the time: see Caro diario [1994]), Will Patton, Carol Kane, Stanley Tucci, Debi Mazar, even Jim Jarmusch – fill out the décor.

In the Soup has its amusing moments, but never finds the pathos it so desperately seeks.

MORE Rockwell: Four Rooms

© Adrian Martin April 1994 / May 2022