#26 Full Frontal (2002) Dir. Steven Soderbergh

For every Traffic or Ocean’s Eleven in Soderbergh’s filmography there’s a Limey or Bubble. He can crank out the mainstream hits (and crank them out well) but it’s almost like he can’t do them without making the smaller, more experimental movies at the same time. The tagline “everybody needs a release” is perfect because I imagine it’s these movies that act as Soderbergh’s release. Full Frontal is about as experimental as they come, featuring narrative hula-hoops, varying film formats, seemingly random scenes and characters who show up for the sake of being characters. But there’s a sly sense of humour to the whole thing that makes it fun to sit through. The impressive cast seem to be having a whale of a time in Camp Soderbergh, clearly enjoying the looseness and creativity that comes with no trailers and almost non-existent paychecks. People like Brad Pitt and David Fincher (!!!) crop up as themselves for no apparent reason other than having a laugh with their A-list pals. It is an odd and confrontational movie that plays like Soderbergh writing an angry letter to all the Hollywood big-wigs who piss him off, but not really in a bad way. It’s not a movie made in anger or revenge but a casual and cheeky fuck you to the mainstream. It’s definitely not the type of Soderbergh I’m likely to watch over and over again, but it’s one I’m likely to talk about for a while.