MOVIE HERO, THE

FADE IN to Festival PATRON reading 27th CIFF program guide. THINKS: “What is this thing called THE MOVIE HERO? I just hope it doesn't have those little white subtitles that vanish whenever there's a light-colored shirtfront or tablecloth in the foreground. Oh, wait, at the bottom of the synopsis it says 'In English; no hard-to-read subtitles.' I think I'll give it a try.” PATRON enters AUDITORIUM, sits down in the midst of near-sellout CROWD. WIDE SHOT: The CROWD, laughing hysterically at THE MOVIE HERO, a ludicrous, irreverent and self-referential homage to movies and movie fanatics. THE MOVIE HERO is Blake, a jobless LA guy who lives his entire life as though it were a movie he's directing and starring in. Blake constantly plays to you, his never-seen “audience,” as he determines to fight evil, in the form of the Suspicious Character, and acquires both the requisite jivey comic Sidekick and a hard-to-get Love Interest (the caseworker that the LAPD have assigned to him). Gleefully crashing the Fourth Wall (a little shout out there to Cleveland's best movie talk-show on radio, Thursdays 6 p.m. 89.3 FM) and toying with the tropes, language, lore and allure of cinema, THE MOVIE HERO is a spoof worthy of mentioning in the august company of Buster Keaton's “Sherlock Jr.” and Harry Hurwitz' “The Projectionist.” DISSOLVE TO: Epilogue. Satisfied PATRON sitting with ATTORNEY, signing entire savings over to CLEVELAND FILM SOCIETY. FADE OUT.