Die-hard fashionistas, if Confessions of a Shopaholic had too much predictable rom-com rubbish and too little avant-garde clothing, go see Eleven Minutes.
It may not be that much more entertaining — a little goes a long way — but at least you'll get an honest behind-the-scenes look at the world of fashion.
It may not be that much more entertaining — a little goes a long way — but at least you'll get an honest behind-the-scenes look at the world of fashion.
The documentary focuses on Jay McCarroll, who was the first winner of TV's Project Runway, in 2005, and the 11 minutes he'll get to show off his clothing design talents during New York's Fashion Week.
While it's intriguing to learn about all the players involved in creating a fashion line, there's too much minutiae to keep the attention of those who are not obsessed with design trends. What works in snippets on a reality show would seem to work blown out to a full-length documentary. Only it doesn't.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: New York Confessions Project Runway Fashion Week Shopaholic Jay McCarroll Eleven Minutes
Perhaps this is partly because the film lacks the suspense of the show's competition. Additionally, the documentary's scope feels hampered by too tight a focus.
We hear McCarroll say, far too frequently, that his fall line is inspired by diarrhea and vaginal discharge. While hardly an advertising exec's dream slogan, it does prompt a kind of morbid curiosity.
But art — or its reasonable facsimile — must be balanced with commerce. Perhaps in a cursory nod to convention, McCaroll's color schemes are influenced by hot air balloons. He also rather mystifyingly refers to "transport" as an overarching theme.
When he won Project Runway's competition four years ago, McCarroll was dubbed "the next great American designer," which indeed must feel weighty to live up to. He can be funny and acerbic, but his obsessive self-absorption becomes grating with such pronouncements as: Project Runway "gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, but so much of it was me." He alternates not so charmingly between marveling over all the attention and whining about all the pressure on him to pull off something beyond fabulous.
What is meant to be a no-holds-barred exploration of the creative process often comes across more like the tiresome Confessions of a Reality TV Darling.
While it's intriguing to learn about all the players involved in creating a fashion line, there's too much minutiae to keep the attention of those who are not obsessed with design trends. What works in snippets on a reality show would seem to work blown out to a full-length documentary. Only it doesn't.
FIND MORE STORIES IN: New York Confessions Project Runway Fashion Week Shopaholic Jay McCarroll Eleven Minutes
Perhaps this is partly because the film lacks the suspense of the show's competition. Additionally, the documentary's scope feels hampered by too tight a focus.
We hear McCarroll say, far too frequently, that his fall line is inspired by diarrhea and vaginal discharge. While hardly an advertising exec's dream slogan, it does prompt a kind of morbid curiosity.
But art — or its reasonable facsimile — must be balanced with commerce. Perhaps in a cursory nod to convention, McCaroll's color schemes are influenced by hot air balloons. He also rather mystifyingly refers to "transport" as an overarching theme.
When he won Project Runway's competition four years ago, McCarroll was dubbed "the next great American designer," which indeed must feel weighty to live up to. He can be funny and acerbic, but his obsessive self-absorption becomes grating with such pronouncements as: Project Runway "gave me the opportunity of a lifetime, but so much of it was me." He alternates not so charmingly between marveling over all the attention and whining about all the pressure on him to pull off something beyond fabulous.
What is meant to be a no-holds-barred exploration of the creative process often comes across more like the tiresome Confessions of a Reality TV Darling.
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