Let's be realistic.

A lot of fun.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

Joe Pesci is one of the most underrated comedic actors in all of Hollywood. The reason is simple, Cousin Vinny aside, he's never really been able to have success on his own. Pesci is usually in huge movies, paired with other big stars, and his rave reviews fall under the supporting actor tag. Jimmy Hollywood is yet another example of Joe Pesci going out on his own and striking out big time, which is quite surprising, when you consider who the Director of the film was. Jimmy Alto (Pesci) is a failing actor in Hollywood, he's done everything he can to make a name for himself, but he never has. One night a down and depressed Jimmy finds that his car has been broken into and it's the last straw. Along with him best friend, William (Christian Slater), Jimmy decides he's going to make a name for himself by cleaning up the streets of L.A., but that doesn't go exactly as planned either. The film is Written/Directed by Barry Levinson, who is usually known for his originality, but in this case, he's got nothing more than a trailer trash rip off of The Green Hornet. The parallels are really uncanny and the originality just isn't there. Even if a film has been done before, if it's good, I can still somewhat enjoy it, but that's another glaring problem with this film, it's not even that funny! Where are Joe Pesci's legendary profanity filled tirades? Where are the classic Home Alone type slapstick moments? Jimmy Hollywood just kind of is what it is, and what it is, is slow, predictable, and done. As a fan of Joe Pesci, I had to see it, but you don't, trust me, you're not missing anything.

Director Barry Levinson would have done well to heed the old line that if you are going to go up to the bell, ring it. Levinson flirts many times with themes much larger than this small film, but he never stays with them.The vapidity of celebrity, the seedy death of Hollywood, even indications of the descent into madness all are brought up but are not followed through. And flashes of brilliance throughout the film are forgotten as the credits roll because of the cheap Hollywood ending.Levinson certainly had a capable cast. Joe Pesci, Victoria Abril (in a rare English-first roll), and an astonishingly effective performance by Christian Slater are wasted as this film runs from theme to theme but never focuses long enough to flesh out the thoughts. Even the comedy becomes sporadic in the latter half of the film.This is worth a rental just to see how a potentially good movie about Hollywood is damaged by its conventions.

My friend and I went out to see this movie and I never thought I'd fall asleep during a Joe Pesi movie but this was one of those times. This movie was so boring, and so pointless. It had no plot or story that I remember.By the time the movie ended I could hardly keep my head up. Nearing the end of the movie I was yawning and almost ready to fall asleep. My friend asked me if I wanted to leave the theater and I said "no let's wait until the end." I'm sorry I waited so long to leave.Don't waste your time with this movie because I'm sorry I didn't get out of the theater when I had the chance to.

"Jimmy Hollywood" is an underrated classic, with Joe Pesci as Jimmy Alto, wanna-be movie star and starry-eyed idealist. Its final scenes and Cinderella ending will leave you with the warm fuzzies, and I could recommend it just for that. But it's a unique tale of failure-turned-victory and any student of film will be able to identify with the likable Jimmy and his associates on the mean streets of the film capital. The supporting cast is well-chosen, and the plotline progresses evenly to its satisfying final wrap. If you liked "Ed Wood", "Jimmy Hollywood" could also be your ticket back to the movies as they were seldom seen by the rest of us.