The movie looks at a New York City plumber, David (Martin Donovan), who pursues a woman, Marliss (the beautiful Rebecca Gayheart-returning to movies after a tragic accident), by pretending he's a director. By using a friend's, Toni (Mary Louise Parker), movie script, he ends up becoming a director-getting her script made into a movie. Most of the movie dealt with David's pulling others into his scheme and all the usual foibles of trying to be someone you're not.

I liked the performances here and thought they were very believable. While some took their roles very seriously, others gave a bit lighter performances and the interaction between the two different styles worked very well. In a sense, it lent credence to the dual nature so many of the characters were displaying as they tried to be someone they weren't which made David's scam seem all the more real. In making movies, a sense of slight of hand seems important.

Now, I've been watching a lot of movies that looked at the making of a movie lately. From Killer Flick to Burning Down The House to the multitude of other such movies, and much of the time the concept doesn't work. In Pipe Dream it does work because the focus is much more personal. David wants to meet women, the making of the movie is secondary. By keeping the initial motivation, however sleazy, to David's desire to nail hot women, the movie avoids so many of the pitfalls other films lose it on. This is a big plus in my book.

The part I didn't like was how the movie got a bit off track at times and nearly to the point of an ensemble movie. On the commentary track, the writers/director mention how much they cut to prevent this but a bit tighter focus on the leads might've made this a better movie. It was fun to watch though and I think it was worth a Rental.

Picture: The picture was presented in 1.85:1 ratio Widescreen and looked very clear most of the time. The fleshtones were accurate and I saw little of the low budget independent look in most scenes. Apparently, low budget doesn't always have to look low budget.

Sound: The audio was presented in stereo Dolby Digital and sounded fairly good. While there wasn't a lot of separation between the two channels, it was all clear and the score fitting to the scenes.

Extras: The best extra was an audio commentary with the director/co-writer, John Walsh and his cowriter, Cynthia Kaplan. The two discussed the movie in general terms, focusing mostly on the actors and the story with limited comments on the technical side of things. It wasn't great but it was worth a listen. The other extras were some trailers and a short bit of boring behind the scenes footage.

Final Thoughts: The humor aspect of the movie was a bit mixed with some of the jokes a bit too obscure or only delivered well enough to get a smile (as opposed to reaching their full potential) yet it was worth watching a few times for me. The theme of playing a role you're not really ready for, for personal gain rather than some noble calling, was well handled. I was surprised at how sympathetic such characters were to me whereas I generally dislike that idea. If you're looking for a bit of light entertainment, check this one out as a rental and those involved in the movie industry might even want to buy a copy.