slums of beverly hills - The Screengrab

SXSW Review: The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle

A few weeks back, your pals at the Screengrab did a list of Comebacks We’d Like To See, and one of the ladies on my wish list was Natasha Lyonne, who shone as a wised-up, enjoyably weird young character actress in movies like Slums of Beverly Hills, American Pie and, well, Freeway 2: Confessions of a Trick Baby before (alleged) drug problems knocked her life and career off track.

So I was happy to see Lyonne in fine form as a market testing guru pushing ominous “self-warming” cookies (with some pretty unnerving side effects) in David Russo’s peculiar conspiracy thriller/monster movie/existential freak-out The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle. Lyonne’s character, Tracy, is the sexy corporate fixation of the film’s appealing central protagonist, Dory (Marshall Allman), a spiritually confused naïf who flushes away his own corporate career with an ill-timed freak-out and winds up joining the invisible Morlocks responsible for cleaning the offices and toilets of the Eloi elite.

Dear Santa: Cinematic Comebacks We’d Most Like To See (Part Four)

NATASHA LYONNE

As a jailbait Jewish American Princess with the voice and delivery of a wised-up, middle-aged dame, Natasha Lyonne was the tough-tender soul of the priceless coming-of-age dramedy Slums of Beverly Hills and the best thing about the first two American Pie movies (well, aside from Alyson Hannigan, I mean). She even managed to bring a surprising amount of relatable dignity to her role as a bulimic escaped convict on the lam (and in love) with a psychopathic gal pal in what otherwise might have been the even campier and trashier Freeway 2: Confessions of a Trick Baby. Actresses frequently complain about the dearth of good roles for women in film, but in her too-brief above-the-radar career, Lyonne’s bright, bemused persona made even underwritten roles compelling, the clear mark of a comeback-worthy talent. Bland contemporaries like Jessica Alba and Kate Hudson are considered A-list, but I’d rather hear Lyonne read the back of an Oxycontin bottle out loud for two hours than watch Good Luck Chuck or Bride Wars. Unfortunately, booze, heroin and other substances have derailed Lyonne’s life and career in recent years, leading to hospitalizations and legal troubles (one involving threats of dog molestation...even Lyonne’s criminal record is fascinating)! But if Robert Downey, Jr. and Mickey Rourke can make it back from self-inflicted career immolation, here’s hoping Lyonne’s recent stint on Broadway (in the play Two Thousand Years) and busy upcoming film slate (including, according to the Internet Movie Database, projects called Goyband, Heterosexuals, Jelly, Outrage and The Immaculate Conception of Little Dizzle) are good signs that Lyonne has cleaned up her act, quit the dog molestation and will soon return to us in some decent roles (though, to be honest, the fact she’s co-starring with Michael Madsen in Outrage is less than comforting).