SHOOTING AT KANSAS FROM THE HIP

In the great tradition of Hollywood, a screenwriter chooses as his subject matter a place and a people he is ignorant of, a producer sends the crew on location for authenticity, but the director prefers filming on sets constructed to his own specifications, and the cast soaks up local color in low-life bars.

The whole production is about as far from “Kansas” as it would have been if it had stayed in Compton or Burbank or wherever else in “Hollywood” it came from.

GIL TAYLOR

Huntington Beach