STUDIO: Genius Products
RELEASE DATE: May 6, 2008
STARRING: Steve Buscemi, Michael Pitt, Alison Lohman, and Gina Gershon
WRITTEN BY: Tom DiCillo
DIRECTED BY: Tom DiCillo
FEATURES: "Stalking Delirious" Featurette
Promotional Shortse
Director Commentary
Music Video - "Shove It"
Theatrical Trailer

What the Hell happened to Delirious? This charming, interesting Hollywood fairy tale with a great ensemble and a clever script from the one-time indie darling Tom DiCillo was COMPLETELY swept under the rug. It didn't even get an MPAA rating and, after playing a few festivals, including Sundance, in 2007, the movie was released on only five screens and didn't even gross $100,000. There are worse movies playing RIGHT NOW in thousands of screens and an ambitious film like Delirious gets the Hollywood shank. Sadly, the reason why is obvious right from the very beginning of the movie - it's not easy to sell. It features an obnoxious lead, a homeless character, a weird love affair, and some crazy twists and turns that can't be neatly packaged in a 2:22 trailer. But fans of ambitious independent filmmaking and anyone in the talented ensemble should seriously pull Delirious from the mothballs that Hollywood resigned it to. (And, if you're unfamiliar with DiCillo, check out Living in Oblivion, Box of Moon Light, and The Real Blonde - all worth your time.)

Delirious is a modern Hollywood fairy tale of true rags-to-riches. The rags are personified by the homeless Toby (Michael Pitt), who stumbles across a group of paparazzi waiting for starlet K'Harma (Alison Lohman). He crosses paths with an abrasive photographer names Les (Steve Buscemi) and locks eyes with the celebutante, with whom he falls instantly in love. Toby volunteers to help Les out with his celebrity stalking for room and board and the two form an awkward friendship. But as Les helps Toby rise from the gutter, even taking his head shots, he watches the young hunk skyrocket past him up the ladder of fame and become the star of his own reality show. Les doesn't handle it well. Delirious features some insane twists and turns but it's got a fascinating fairy tale sheen. It's not supposed to be taken purely at face value and, if you go with its flow (to borrow a phrase crucial to the film), you'll be pleasantly surprised at what DiCillo gets right. The final scenes brilliantly encapsulate the way a lot of people feel about celebrities - they hate them until they look their way and then they melt in their star power.

Genius Products does a reasonably good job with the DVD for Delirious, considering its limited notoriety and awareness. It will probably be a rental for most people (as NO ONE saw it in theaters) and the video and audio are never distracting. If you look closely, you'll see that the anamorphic widescreen picture is a little more dull than it should be and the audio track is 5.1 in number only. I don't think I ever heard the rear speakers actually being used. The special features are actually a little more than expected for a film so small, including a commentary, a fun featurette where Buscemi and DiCillo actually talk to paparazzi following them, and a GREAT music video with Alison Lohman playing K'Harma. Like the movie it's featured in, it's clever, funny, and more acutely satirical of the current Hollywood machine than a lot of similar attempts in recent years. No wonder they didn't want you to see it.