Touchy Feely: Sundance Review

PARK CITY — Though its logline -- a massage therapist develops a strong aversion to touch -- sounds like a setup for easy comedy, Lynn Shelton's Touchy Feely takes its subject's distress seriously, treating it as a metaphor for fear of commitment. Laughs come less frequently here than in Humpday and Your Sister's Sister, but the writer/director's empathy for floundering characters is intact; the film should be warmly, if not rapturously, received by her fans.

VIDEO: THR's Sundance 2013 Diaries                       

Rosemarie DeWitt is Abby, the therapist in question, and her problem arises suddenly: One day before a massage, she becomes fixated on the texture of skin on her knee. She subsequently finds herself unable to touch her client without running off to vomit; when she goes, anxiously, to see her boyfriend (Scoot McNairy's Jesse), she bolts before he can kiss her. What we notice, and Abby seemingly doesn't, is that this sudden phobia has arrived immediately after Jesse asked her to move in with him.

In an odd and not entirely convincing parallelism, Abby's loss is her brother Paul's gain. Paul (Josh Pais), a joyless dentist whose practice is close to failure, finds that through routine cleanings he is able to cure patients of the chronic jaw pain known as TMJ. He's doing nothing different, but soon his waiting room is full and a grateful clientele is showering him with gifts.

This magical zero-sum scenario resonates with the film's interest in the energy-balancing beliefs of Reiki, the Japanese relaxation technique. Abby's close friend Bronwyn (Allison Janney) is a practitioner, reading people's energy and making herbal potions; in the film's funniest moment, Bronwyn attempts a session with Paul, a man destined never to be at ease on a massage table. (Pais's performance, though entertaining, is noticeably heightened compared to those around him; scenes of his home life with daughter Jenny, played naturalistically by Ellen Page, don't always ring true.)

PHOTOS: The Scene in Park City

Two tablets of Ecstasy, offered by Bronwyn as a means of loosening Abby up, promise hijinks but instead lead to a soul-searching walkabout that threatens to cause irreparable harm to her relationship with Jesse. This sequence and other climactic encounters give Shelton a chance to be "touchy feely" in a less literal sense, offering some of the tense but unguarded emotional moments she does so well.

Production Company: Most Favored Nations

Cast: Rosemarie DeWitt, Josh Pais, Allison Janney, Ron Livingston, Scoot McNairy, Ellen Page, Tomo Nakayama

Director-Screenwriter-Editor: Lynn Shelton

Producer: Steven Schardt

Executive producers: Nancy Black, Dashiell Gantner, Vallejo Gantner, Trey Beck, Dave Nakayama

Director of photography: Benjamin Kasulke

Production designer: John Lavin

Music: Vinny Smith

Costume designer: Carrie Stacey

Sales: Rich Klubeck, UTA; Josh Braun, Submarine

No rating, 87 minutes

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Sundance 2013: James Ponsoldt's 'Spectacular Now' is a 'Teen Film for Adults' (Video)

With a buzzworthy cast including Brie Larson, Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller, named by The Hollywood Reporter as one of five faces to watch at this year's Sundance Film Festival, James Ponsoldt's Smashed follow-up premiered Friday, Jan. 18, to a packed Library Theater.

But first, the group stopped by THR's video lounge to discuss the teen dramedy, which may appeal to a wider audience than its synopsis leads on.

PHOTOS: The Scene at Park City

"The Spectacular Now is a love story between complicated teenagers," said Ponsoldt. "Think of it as a teen film for adults. This is really honest characters and it's a really romantic film."

Woodley, who last year won an Independent Spirit Award for her role in The Descendants, said that the selling point for her -- and her co-stars -- was having the opportunity to work with Ponsoldt.

"It's a great script, but the reason we said yes was because of you," she gushed.

For more about the movie, watch the video above.

Email: Sophie.Schillaci@THR.com; Twitter: @SophieSchillaci

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Lady Gaga to Headline Inaugural Ball for Obama Staffers

Obama campaign loyalists will have reason to go gaga next week – and not just because their candidate will be getting sworn into office.

Lady Gaga will headline a private event for members of President Barack Obama’s campaign staff Jan. 22, an inaugural source tells The Hollywood Reporter.

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The private ball for campaign staffers was reportedly headlined by Jay-Z in 2009, during which the rapper is said to have sung "99 Problems but George Bush Ain't One."

A number of music stars are lined up to perform during activities related to Obama’s Jan. 21 inauguration, including Kelly Clarkson, Beyonce, Katy Perry, Stevie Wonder, Alicia Keys,  Usher, fun., and Cyndi Lauper.

STORY: Hollywood Gets Invited to Obama's Inauguration

Among the week’s events include the “Service Summit,” which will feature addresses by inaugural committee co-chair Eva Longoria, Chelsea Clinton, singer-songwriter Ben Folds, Star Jones, Angela Bassett and gospel singer Yolanda Adams.

Other Hollywood fixtures slated to attend festivities include campaign backers Harvey Weinstein, Oscar-nominated actress Viola Davis and producer and campaign booster Colleen Bell.

Gaga is currently on tour and plays at Los Angeles' Staples Center Sunday and Monday.

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Mother of George: Sundance Review

PARK CITY — The vibrant evocation of a particular ethnic community in New York City goes only so far in sustaining rapt interest in Mother of George, a pictorially unusual but dramatically listless tale of how longstanding traditions impinge on the lives of a young Nigerian couple trying to conceive a baby. A narrow thematic focus and a severely claustrophobic visual scheme will limit admiration of this seriously intentioned work to the artier realms of the festival and independent circuits.

Nigerian-born director Andrew Dosunmu’s first feature, Restless City, which focused on a Senegalese musician eking out a living in New York selling CDs, bowed in the Next section at Sundance two years ago.  The first 12 minutes of his new film immerse the viewer in Nigerian traditions by way of an elegant wedding ceremony drenched in stunning fabrics, colors, faces and music, all in the service of celebrating the marriage of the beautiful Adenike (Danai Gurira) and Ayodele (Isaach De Bankole).

VIDEO: THR's Sundance 2013 Diaries                                   

Naturally, part of the golden-hued ritual involves prayers and wishes for the couple’s fertility, a notion rubbed in when the groom’s pushy, borderline batty mother (Bukky Ajayi) gives the bride the robe in which she carried her infant son and summarily announces that her first-born will be named George. In another, no doubt unofficial part of the evening, Ayodele’s buddies privately offer him advice on the dos and don’ts of fooling around as a married man.

But, as in real life, the wondrous aura of the wedding soon recedes as real life takes over, and Adenike’s life becomes all about the general expectations of her having a baby.  And so does the film. There are scenes involving Ayodele and his brother Biyi (Tony Okungbowa) at the small restaurant they run, including one in which they kill a goat out back that will insure that the film will never carry the usual “No Animals Were Harmed” logo on the end credits.

But mostly the focus is on the increasingly beleaguered Adenike who, over many months, comes to suspect that either she or her husband may have a medical procreation problem. He refuses to be tested, however, old country mores come into play and, after much agonizing and crying, Adenike reaches the end of her tether.

PHOTOS: The Scene in Park City

Unfortunately, Darci Picoult’s original screenplay offers few dramatic scenes between husband and wife, as he seems disinclined to get to the bottom of the problem. Adenike is genuinely torn between Yoruba traditions and the modern world she now lives in. But as the former are constantly pushed on her by those closest to her, especially by her mother-in-law, who proposes that Biyi secretly father the child, she cannot blithely toss them aside and assert herself as an independent American woman.

A former creative director and photographer for Yves Saint Laurent and a veteran of music videos, Dosunmu clearly has strong visual ideas and, once again teaming with rising cinematographer Bradford Young, who won a Sundance prize for shooting Pariah two years ago, he stresses tightly framed shots with very short focal lengths that shut out the wider world around his characters and emphasize the intense pressure on Adenike.

The results are often striking on a shot-by-shot basis, but they don’t connect with one another in a way that flows or provides the film with a visual dynamic that progressively builds to something greater than its individual compositions. Instead, the film comes to feel flat, both in terms of its pictorial range and dramatic effect.

The always dependable De Bankole could have used more to do, his character emerging as less than sympathetic due to his increasingly distant and recalcitrant behavior. Gurira has magnetism and generates considerable empathy, although much of that is automatically built into the character.

PHOTOS: Sundance 2013: 10 Hot Films Hitting Park City            

To the extent that brings to light a little-considered American community, Mother of George commands a certain interest, but its actual accomplishment is decidedly modest.

Venue: Sundance Film Festival (U.S. Dramatic Competition)

Production: Parts & Labor, Cunningham & Maybach Films, Fried Alligator Films, SimonSays Entertainment

Cast: Isaach De Bankole, Danai Gurira, Tony Okungbowa, Yaya Alafia, Bukky Ajayi

Director: Andrew Dosunmu

Screenwriter: Darci Picoult

Producers: Lars Knudsen, Jay Van Hoy, Matt Parker, Carly Hugo, Darci Picoult, Chris Maybach, Saemi Kim, Patrick Cunningham, Tony Okungbowa

Executive producers: Laura Bernieri, Isaach De Bakole, Andre Des Rochers, Saerom Kim, Jawal Nga, David Raymond, Fady Salame, Rhea Scott, Ron Simons, Joseph Sorrentino, Jerry Tankersley

Director of photography: Bradford Young

Production designer: Lucio Seixas

Costume designer: Mobolaji Dawodu

Editor: Oriana Soddu

Music: Philip Miller

106 minutes

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Box Office Report: Arnold Terminated by 'Mama,' 'Zero Dark Thirty'

Hasta la vista, baby.

In a box office upset, new horror pic Mama -- starring Zero Dark Thirty's Jessica Chastain -- is easily winning the long Martin Luther King weekend and badly beating two R-rated films packing plenty of male heat, the Mark Wahlberg-Russell Crowe action-thriller Broken City and Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Last Stand.

STORY: Arnold Schwarzenegger Compares Himself to Roman Emperor at 'Last Stand' Premiere Party

Mama, from Universal, is projected to top the four-day holiday weekend with a better-than-expected $33.2 million after taking in $28.1 million for the three-day stretch. Studio insiders say the movie is clearly benefiting from its teenage-friendly PG-13 rating.

Broken City is expected to gross $10 million for the four-day weekend after a disappointing three-day take of $9 million. The movie, from Emmett/Furla Films and New Regency, received dismal reviews, although it earned a B CinemaScore. Broken City all but tied with holdover Gangster Squad for No. 4.

From Lionsgate, Last Stand came in at a lackluster No. 9 after earning $6.3 million for the three-day weekend. The gun-laden action pic, which is expected to gross $7.4 million for the four days, marks Schwarzenegger's first leading role since 2003 and doesn't bode well for the actor's planned return to stardom. Nearly 80 percent of the audience was over the age of 25.

Chastain has plenty of reason to celebrate -- Sony and Annapurna's Zero Dark Thirty is holding at No. 2 with a three-day gross of $17.6 million and a projected four-day take of $21.4 million, pushing its cume to nearly $60 million. That gives her the top two spots at the domestic box office.

Zero Dark Thirty is among a handful of Oscar best picture contenders enjoying a bump from awards attention. David O. Russell's Silver Linings Playbook is the weekend's most noticeable example as it expanded nationwide, grossing $11.4 million to come in No. 3. The film's total is nearing $60 million.

Silver Linings is expected to take in $14.2 million for the four-day holiday weekend in a win for The Weinstein Co. Many box office observers had thought Harvey Weinstein made a fatal mistake in deciding not to open the film nationwide in November, opting instead for a limited run.

"I never thought we'd come in third place. This is a big victory for our strategy and the great word of mouth the film is getting," said Erik Lomis, president of distribution for the Weinstein Co. "The sky's the limit."

Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained, another best picture contender, also enjoyed an awards bump as it opened in 54 markets overseas, scoring a stellar $48.1 million in 54 markets, despite much of Europe being buried under snow. From the Weinstein Co. and Sony, Django opened 30 percent of Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds. 

In North America, Mama prospered thanks to young females; women and teenage girls made up 61 percent of the audience, while an impressive 63 percent of the audience was under the age of 25. The horror pic was made for a modest $15 million.

"There's a void in the marketing place for PG-13 fare," said Universal president of domestic distribution Nikki Rocco.

Universal also won the MLK weekend last year when Contraband, coincidentally starring Wahlberg, opened to $28 million.

Broken City and Last Stand had to compete for older males (78 percent of Broken City's audience also was over the age of 25). Last Stand lay claim to MLK weekend first.

At the specialty box office, best picture contender Amour continued to over perform, grossing $413,261 from nine theaters for a location average of $11,479.

Here are the full results for the weekend of Jan. 18-20 at domestic box office (* denotes Oscar best-picture contender). Final numbers for the four-day holiday weekend will be released Monday.

Title, Weeks in release/theater count, studio, three-day weekend total, cume

1. Mama 1/2,647, Universal, $28.1 million.

2. *Zero Dark Thirty, 5/2,946, Sony/Annapurna, $17.6 million, $55.9 million.

3. *Silver Linings Playbook, 10/2,523, The Weinstein Co., $11.4 million, $55.3 million.

4. Gangster Squad, 2/3,103, Warner Bros., $9.1 million, $32.2 million.

5. Broken City, 1/2,620, Fox/New Regency, $9 million.

6. A Haunted House, 2/2,160, Open Road Films/IM Global, $8.3 million, $30 million.

7. *Django Unchained, 4/3,012, The Weinstein Co., $8.2 million, $138.4 million.

8. *Les Miserables, 4/2,579, Universal, $7.8 million , $130.3 million.

9. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, 6/2,323, Warner Bros./New Line, $6.4 million, $287.4 million.

0. The Last Stand, 10/2,027, Lionsgate, $6.3 million.

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'The Carrie Diaries': Carrie Gets a Dose of New York's High Life (Exclusive Video)

Since Carrie Bradshaw met international fashion editor Larissa Loughton in the series premiere of The Carrie Diaries, her life has been getting a lot more colorful.

In the second episode of The CW's Sex and the City prequel, Carrie (AnnaSophia Robb) finds herself scrambling to get herself to Larissa's (Freema Agyeman) hoppin' Interview magazine photo shoot in New York City so her home-made "Carrie" bag can be photographed for print and The Hollywood Reporter has the exclusive clip.

PHOTOS: 'The Carrie Diaries' Character Portraits Bring Out the Colorful '80s

It's an exciting time for young Carrie, who makes it over to the shoot only to discover camels, zebras and tons of '80s jewelry and clothing. Is this what her life could be like in a few years?

Better yet, does she want it to be?

The Carrie Diaries airs 8 p.m. Mondays on The CW.

E-mail: Philiana.Ng@thr.com
Twitter: @insidethetube

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Simon Cowell Bullish on 'Britain's Got Talent' Despite 'The Voice' Competition

LONDON -- Simon Cowell told reporters on Sunday that he is optimistic that ITV hit show Britain's Got Talent can bring in strong, and possibly even higher, ratings this year despite continued competition from the BBC's The Voice UK.

He also signaled that he wouldn't return to the U.K. version of The X Factor on ITV and said the future of that show in the U.K. and U.S. would be discussed in upcoming meetings. Syco Entertainment, Cowell's joint venture with Sony Music, is one of the producers of The X Factor and Got Talent formats.

STORY: Simon Cowell to Remain Judge on 'Britain's Got Talent' Next Year

"They will be very competitive," Cowell said about music competition show The Voice UK, which will kick off its second season this spring around the same time as Britain's Got Talent starts its seventh. "I don't take anything for granted. It will rest on how good the talent is" on both shows.

But Cowell added that he has told the BGT production team that he would start the new season with the belief that ratings could go up. He argued that this would require the show to be even better than last year when Ashleigh and dancing dog Pudsey won it.

Last spring, The Voice UK for several weeks beat BGT in the ratings as people tuned in for the early rounds of the then-new show featuring its signature spinning chairs. But the Cowell show later in the season regained the viewership lead.

Cowell made the comments Sunday afternoon ahead of an audition taping for BGT at the British capital's "home of variety entertainment," the London Palladium.

Asked if he could appear on America's Got Talent in the future, Cowell said he wasn't planning to. "I like doing this show," he said about BGT.

"The show's really become big around the world," and if the U.K. flagship version works well, all else also works, he suggested. "I like doing one show here and one [X Factor] in the U.S.," Cowell added.

In that context, he also said that it was unlikely that he would return to the X Factor U.K. edition, which has seen ratings decline, leading to suggestions that Cowell would return as a judge this year. "I would rule that out," he told reporters.

The X Factor's U.S. and U.K. future will be a near-term focus, Cowell signaled, saying there would be meetings in a couple of weeks with the shows' teams from both countries. He declined to comment on who the judges would be for the upcoming seasons, but signaled the topic would be among the issues of discussion.

With L.A. Reid’s and Britney Spears' exits from the X Factor's U.S. edition on Fox, two seats on the judges' table are unfilled for the third season. The U.K. could also see changes amid lower ratings for its recently ended ninth season.

Cowell attended the Sunday audition event along with BGT hosts and comedians Ant & Dec and fellow judges Amanda Holden, Alesha Dixon and David Walliams.

Asked what factor most determines the success of BGT, Cowell said the appearance of unexpected acts that win over audience. "You have to be original," he said. "It has to be something that goes viral."

Cowell reportedly dismissed the first 10 acts who auditioned for BGT on the first day of auditions in Cardiff, Wales. "The first day in Cardiff, I was sitting there thinking this will be a disaster," he told reporters on Sunday. "The first day was pretty miserable," but the second day brought more exciting talent, he said.

Asked what act could win this year after last year's dancing dog sensation, he joked that he has never seen a dancing cat on stage. Some of the BGT judges and hosts on Sunday also expressed their optimism for the new season.

"We come on the back of a huge year for Britain," so there is excitement about showcasing British talent, suggested Dixon in a reference to the London 2012 Summer Olympics and the Queen's jubilee celebrations.

Cowell later agreed with that suggestion, saying that "if we can bring back that kind of fun spirit, being patriotic again ... that is a good place to start."

Dec, meanwhile, said: "The judges did so well last year," giving the show momentum for the new season, which will start airing on a date in spring that has yet to be announced. "Of course, it's all about the people who turn up at the audition," but the second audition day brought out promising acts following the weak first day mentioned by Cowell, he added.

STORY: 'X Factor' Exit a 'Very Difficult Decision,' Says Britney Spears

Comedian David Walliams, for example, mentioned that there was a "fantastic" ventriloquist at a Cardiff audition who the judges liked.

Asked about reports about disagreements between him and Cowell at the early auditions, Walliams said: "It's just banter [on the show]."

But he suggested that he feels worse than Cowell for performers who don't make the cut, because as an actor he knows the feeling of being turned down. "Simon's never been turned down - by anyone," Walliams said.

"All of us are having such a good time together," Dixon said, calling the decision to return to the show for another year "very easy."

Asked about her own music, she said she made the New Year's resolution to finish her album in 2012. "I am writing in between" show tapings, she told reporters. "I have been struggling to find time ... But I miss being on stage."

Email: Georg.Szalai@thr.com Twitter: @georgszalai

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First Batmobile Fetches $4.6 Million at Auction

Here’s a sticker price that could make even billionaire Bruce Wayne think twice before buying.

The first of six Batmobiles produced for the 1960s ABC Batman TV series has sold at auction for $4.6 million. The crowd at the Barrett-Jackson house in Scottsdale, Ariz. whooped and cheered, and the auctioneer hummed the theme to the classic show as the price rose and the excitement grew.

PHOTOS: Batman Through the Years: Christian Bale, George Clooney and Others Who've Played the Dark Knight

The car, designed by legendary Hollywood car customizer George Barris, sold for the upper end of its early estimates.

Barris constructed the Batmobile in just 15 days in 1966. It was built for $15,000 over a 1955 Ford Futura concept model (purchased for $1). It’s been in Barris’ personal collection ever since, and contains Batman gadgets such as a Batphone and an oil squirter fashioned from lawn sprinklers. As an added bonus, it's road legal, should its new owner care to take it for a spin.

The winning bidder was Rick Champagne, a businessman and car collector from the Phoenix area who has been attending Barrett-Jackson auctions for 15 years.

PHOTOS: Batman's Onscreen Villains: 10 Greats From the Joker to Bane

Champagne said he grew up watching the TV show and came to the auction determined to walk away with the car. Asked where he planned to store the car, the new owner joked, "in the living room. I'm going to tear down a wall and put in my living room."

The Batmobile ties the record for the highest price fetched for a movie car at auction. In 2010, the Aston Martin DB5 driven by Sean Connery in Goldfinger set the record when it went 4.6 million. In 2011, the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang car auctioned for $805,000, shy of the $1 million it was expected to fetch.

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'SNL' Recap: Jennifer Lawrence Parodies 'Hunger Games', Slams Oscar Competition (Video)

Jennifer Lawrence kicked off Saturday Night Live’s 2013 by putting her fellow best actress Oscar nominees in their places.

Many in the blogosphere believed her saying “I beat Meryl!” during her Golden Globes speech Sunday was a dig at Meryl Streep, an interpretation Lawrence denied. But she had no qualms about bashing her Oscar competition, using her opening monologue to say something nasty about each of her rivals.

VIDEO: ‘SNL': 2012's 5 Most Popular Clips on Hulu Revealed

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty): “Jessica Chastain? More like Jessica ain’t winning an Oscar on my watch.”

Naomi Watts: “You were in The Impossible. You know what else is impossible? You beating me on Oscar night.”

Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild): “What you talkin' about Wallace? The alphabet called. They want their letters back.”

Emmanuelle Riva (Amour) : “An 85-year-old French lady. Yeah. I think I can take you.”

But don’t be hasty with those torches and pitchforks. Lawrence followed up each dig with something nice about her competitors.

VIDEO: 'SNL' Recap: Samuel L. Jackson (Possibly) Drops F-Bomb; Paul McCartney Reunites Nirvana

SNL gave news junkies what they wanted in its cold open, tackling not one, not two, but three of the week’s big stories. A detailed description of what went down can be read here, but sufficed to say, Lance Armstrong, Notre Dame star Manti Te'o and Jodie Foster’s much-talked about Golden Globes speech got the SNL treatment.

Like host Jeremy Renner tackling The Avengers last year, Lawrence took on The Hunger Games in a sketch taking place after (spoiler alert) Katniss and Peeta win the games. ESPN-style journalists ask tough questions about the franchise (Where’s the chemistry between Katniss and Peeta?) and the sketch itself asks why the characters in a movie called The Hunger Games look so well fed. 

The questions are a bit old at this point, but the bit was amusing enough.

SNL also skewered another franchise in the works, The Hobbit, with an ad revealing Peter Jackson has decided three movies won't be enough to achieve his vision of the classic children’s book. His solution? He's dividing the remaining two  Hobbit films into 18 movies.

Here’s one of the film's titles:

The Hobbit 3: Shoot. I Just Realized We Forgot Something Back At The Shire. Mind If We Double Back?”

This is mundane Middle-earth to the Nth degree. Perhaps  Tolkienites  bored by the hour it takes for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to leave the Shire should take comfort in this sketch. It could have been much, much worse.

STORY: Fred Armisen 'Absolutely' Excited for Justin Bieber on 'SNL': 'He's Brilliant'

Lawrence was relegated to sidekick status in a number of sketches, playing the intern on an obnoxious morning radio show in one bit and the sex kitten in an odd foreign language scene in another.

Likewise, the episode’s final sketch sees Lawrence play a Civil War-era woman pining for her soldier suitor. While she writes him flowery dispatches, he composes letters using modern slang.

VIDEO: ‘SNL' Recap: Jeremy Renner Spoofs 'Avengers,' Sings About Jason Bourne

“Hey what’s up. I miss your body so much. Oh my God, you’re so hot,” reads one. He becomes obsessed with receiving a “tit pic,” something he asks for often in subsequent letters. Needless to say, things don’t work out for the couple.

SNL is new next week on NBC with The Voice’s Adam Levine hosting and musical guest Kendrick Lamar.

Email: Aaron.Couch@thr.com

Twitter: @AaronCouch

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The Look of Love: Sundance Review

PARK CITY – Before Soho became the gay global village and media darling playground it is today, the Central London district was better known as a kind of fish-and-chips Vegas, its gateway marked by the landmark Raymond Revuebar sign that promised the world’s best in erotic entertainment.

The impresario behind a lucrative empire of strip clubs, soft porn magazines and real estate, Paul Raymond is brought to life with droll humor by Steve Coogan in The Look of Love. But despite the inherent pathos in this King Midas tale, Michael Winterbottom’s uneven biopic lacks heart.

The film kicks off on a promising note with a fun title sequence that has colorful sex-kitten cut-outs gliding by to a foot-tapping mambo tune. “My name is Paul Raymond,” says Coogan direct-to-camera in the role. “Welcome to my world of erotica.” The grip of nostalgia for a less uptight age is instantaneous.

However, Winterbottom and screenwriter Matt Greenhalgh have trouble establishing a functional framing device. On one hand, there’s the “King of Soho,” chumming up to an interviewer while conducting a guided tour of his saucy underground domain. On the other, there’s the aged Raymond, grieving for his daughter Debbie (Imogen Poots). He watches a video recording of a TV profile, its voiceover narration helping to provide a recap of his early career. But this image of an entrepreneur with a magic touch, who lost everyone he ever loved, never comes satisfyingly into focus. And the film’s playful and sorrowful sides are not fully reconciled, remaining split identities.

Much of it is frisky and entertaining, however, especially in the pioneering years, blossoming from black and white into vibrant color. A self-invented man from humble roots in Liverpool, Raymond circumvented British laws concerning public displays of nudity. His initial experiments included the grandly named Cirque Nu de Paris, featuring his wife Jean (Anna Friel) topless in a lion-tamer act. But his money-spinning breakthrough came with the opening in 1958 of the members-only Revuebar, showcasing elaborately themed nude spectacles.

The cramped backstage corridors and dressing rooms - clouded with cigarette smoke and draped with nubile women in G-strings and feathers - are wonderfully recreated by production designer Jacqueline Abrahams and costumer Stephanie Collie.

As the swinging ‘60s get under way and Paul finds himself competing with more raunchy mainstream entertainment, he ventures into legitimate theater. His production of a famously meritless comedy called Pyjama Tops proudly emblazoned the pull quote “Arbitrary displays of naked flesh!” across its ads. While casting that show, he meets a self-possessed vicar’s daughter who goes by the name Amber (Tamsin Egerton). She becomes his lover and prompts the end of his marriage to Jean.

Following an overture from Tony Power (Chris Addison), editor of Men Only magazine, Paul dives into publishing, turning the flagging title into a success. Giving her the more refined name of Fiona Richmond, he puts Amber on the masthead to write a titillating column, in which she “test-drives” the men of Continental Europe.

But like Jean before her, Fiona grows tired of sharing Paul with an endless parade of sex partners - often two or three at a time - that pass through the king-size bed of their lavish penthouse apartment.

Fiona’s exit from the main action leaves us with Debbie, who has been expelled from boarding school and wants to be a performer. But this section of the movie becomes a drag, partly because the script fails to provide a concrete grounding for the father-daughter relationship.

Paul gets behind Debbie’s initial bid to be a singer, featuring her as the fully clothed star of an ambitious revue called “Royalty Follies.” In typically self-aggrandizing style, he boasts that it’s the most expensive production ever mounted in the country. But the show is a dud. The film gets bogged down in biographical detail as Debbie ventures without much distinction into producing, while picking up an escalating cocaine habit from Tony.

The script’s biggest failing is not creating a full-bodied character out of Debbie. “All she ever wanted was to impress you,” says Jean to Paul at their daughter’s funeral. But the statement doesn’t resonate, because we’ve seen no evidence of it from a girl who comes across merely as a whiny no-talent.

Sporting the side-swept mane that was Raymond’s signature look from the 1960s until his death in 2008, Coogan plays him as an avuncular if self-absorbed figure with a disarming predilection for schoolboy innuendo. Cruising around London in his Rolls Royce with its PRII vanity plates, he conveys the innate showmanship of the man and his disdain for the hypocrisies of starchy postwar Britain. But the character’s increasing sense of solitude is less persuasive. Of the figures in his orbit, only Egerton’s ineffably poised Fiona leaves a lasting impression.

Among famous faces that turn up briefly, Stephen Fry appears as a bewigged barrister, and Little Britain duo David Walliams and Matt Lucas drop in, respectively, as a libidinous cleric and as Divine in a London run of the B-movie stage spoof Women Behind Bars.

Loaded with music - albeit some surprisingly obvious choices from the director who made 24 Hour Party People - the film is absorbing on a scene-by-scene basis. But it connects the dots of Raymond’s life in a perfunctory way, without locating a fluid through-line or gaining emotional access to its elusive subject.

Venue: Sundance Film Festival (Premieres)

Cast: Steve Coogan, Anna Friel, Imogen Poots, Tamsin Egerton, Chris Addison, James Lance, Matthew Beard, Liam Boyle, Simon Bird, Matt Lucas, David Walliams, Stephen Fry, Dara O’Briain, Miles Jupp, Shirley Henderson, Kieran O’Brien, Peter Wight

Production companies: Revolution Films, in association with Baby Cow Films

Director: Michael Winterbottom

Screenwriter: Matt Greenhalgh

Producer: Melissa Parmenter

Executive producers: Andrew Eaton, Jenny Borgars, Katherine Butler, Norman Merry, Danny Perkins, Piers Wenger

Director of photography: Hubert Taczanowski

Production designer: Jacqueline Abrahams

Music: Antony Genn, Martin Slattery

Costume designer: Stephanie Collie

Editor: Mags Arnold

No rating, 105 minutes.

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Sundance Breakout Mackenzie Davis to Star in 'Kitchen Sink' for Sony

Mackenzie Davis and Nicholas Braun

Mackenzie Davis is in talks to star in Sony's horror comedy The Kitchen Sink. Nicholas Braun is negotiating to star as well.

The film, which is in the vein of Sony's hit Zombieland, revolves around a pair of teens who form an unlikely alliance with vampires and zombies in order to take on an army of invading aliens. Robbie Pickering (Natural Selection) will direct from an Oren Uziel screenplay.

Production is slated to begin in the summer. 

Davis, who is gaining buzz at the Sundance Film Festival for her portrayal of Guy Pearce's daughter in Drake Doremus' Breathe In, also had a small role in last year's Sundance film Smashed. 

Braun gained attention for his role as Ponytail Derek in Perks of Being a Wallflower. He also appeared in Red State.

Matt Tolmach is producing the genre film.

Davis is repped by UTA and Thruline. 

Braun is handled by WME. 

Email: Tatiana.Siegel@THR.com, Twitter: @TatianaSiegel27

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Barbara Walters Hospitalized After Fall

In Washington to cover President Barack Obama's inauguration, veteran ABC journalist Barbara Walters lost her footing and fell on a stair Saturday night while at the D.C. home of British Ambassador Sir Peter Westmacott.

STORY: Barbara Walters Asks Obamas How They 'Keep the Fire Going'

Westmacott was hosting a tea and champagne party at his residence, when the cohost of The View, 83, fell while leaving and cut her forehead.

“Out of an abundance of caution, she went to the hospital to have her cut tended to, have a full examination and remains there for observation," said Jeffrey W. Schneider, senior vice president of ABC News, in a statement. "Barbara is alert (and telling everyone what to do), which we all take as a very positive sign."

STORY: 'The View' Jokes About Lance Armstrong's 'Little Testicle'

Walters will not be contributing to ABC's coverage of the inauguration Monday, according to TV Newser, and may be off the air for several days while she recovers.

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Katy Perry, Usher and Michelle Obama Rock In Inauguration for Military Families

As dignitaries, donors and deal makers flooded into Washington, D.C. for the second inauguration of President Barack Obama, his wife headlined an event that boasted its own considerable star power, while transcending the partisan warfare that has engulfed the city.

In the main, cavernous room of the Washington Convention Center, First Lady Michelle Obama and the Second Lady, Dr. Jill Biden, hosted the Kids Inaugural Concert, thrown for and in honor of the children of military families nationwide.

STORY: Lady Gaga to Headline Inaugural Ball for Obama Staffers

The event was officially emceed by America's Got Talent host Nick Cannon, who stood in front of four massive screens stretching the horizontal length of the ballroom, drenched with projection-illuminated stars and set with light blue columns that suggest the capital is a friendly place worthy of the grandeur described in the kids' textbooks.

Usher led off the concert with a string of his biggest hits. Perhaps because he has earned universal awareness among elementary school students through his mentorship of Justin Bieber, the Grammy-winner was greeted by dancing children of all ages; there were four-year-olds standing on their chairs, humming along and bending their knees, often holding hands with their mothers.

Like many that followed, Usher gave a pep talk about the importance of youth activism, and the value of the sacrifices that military children make; it was a seemingly sincere tribute, and was repeated through video messages from stars such as those from Disney Channel's Shake It Up; Nickelodeon's Big Time Rush; the hit boy band The Wanted; Jimmy Fallon (who deadpanned and called himself One Direction's Harry Styles); Ellen DeGeneres (who drew massive cheers); and David Letterman, whose smiling words were met with absolute confused silence, an ironic highlight for any adult in the room.

PHOTOS: 10 Presidents and Their Famous Hollywood Pals

Several cast members from Glee -- Darren Criss, Naya Rivera and Amber Riley -- earned their own raucous cheers, as they performed an acoustic song each. Riley's rendition of Christina Aguilera's "Beautiful" was a particular hit.

Among the more notable details: the concession stand in the back -- more like just a few food carts -- carried both fresh fruit and ice cream. For a first lady that has promoted healthy eating among children, it was a compromise in a special celebratory occasion.

Obama and Biden took the stage near the end, calling in groups of military kids on video chats broadcast on the big screens. The first lady in particular was earnest in her words, appealing to all ages.

STORY: Hollywood Gets Invited to Obama's Inauguration

"You see, when we said we wanted to host a concert to honor our military kids, let me tell you, everyone wanted to be here. Usher wanted to be here," she said. "Katy Perry wanted to be here. Nick Cannon, the folks from Glee, and all the other amazing performers -- they wanted to be here, too. And let me tell you, they’re not here for me. They’re not here for Dr. Biden. They are here for all of you. Because they know the kind of sacrifices that you all make every single day."

Soon after, Perry took the stage, in her trademark Uncle Sam-style corset, with a full band and backup singers behind her. She sang for songs -- "Teenage Dream," "Part of Me," "Wide Awake" and "Firework," the last of which was played in front of a photo montage of President Obama with children -- gave the one semi-political moment of the night, celebrating "four more years" of Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.

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