I imagine a playwright trying to create a farce and getting stuck for ideas. Then he has a masterstroke! Forget the farce and make the play about the difficulties of putting on the play! Brilliant. It works. Unfortunately, turning it into a film doesn't work quite as well. The expanded elements and the editing are a jarring reminder that you are watching a film adaptation while perhaps wishing you were in a theater watching the play (or at least a simple film of a live performance).
To say Bogdanovich ruined a perfectly good play, would be an overstatement. The movie is reasonably good, just not as funny as I'm sure the play is. I kept asking myself what purpose is served by making this into a film. At least it was an introduction to an ingenious play that I will someday try to attend. For that, it was worthwhile.
PS: Did I see a cameo by Truffaut near the end?
To say Bogdanovich ruined a perfectly good play, would be an overstatement. The movie is reasonably good, just not as funny as I'm sure the play is. I kept asking myself what purpose is served by making this into a film. At least it was an introduction to an ingenious play that I will someday try to attend. For that, it was worthwhile.
PS: Did I see a cameo by Truffaut near the end?