‘Way Off Broadway’

Daniel Kay’s “Way Off Broadway” is an endearing comedy about five college friends trying to make it in the arts in New York while coping with insecurity, uncertainty, rejection, disappointment and muddled emotions. At the group’s magnetic center is a ravishingly lovely aspiring actress (Morena Baccarin). She is surrounded by a grad student in film (Michael Parducci), with whom she is having a slowly fading romance; an aspiring playwright (Brad Beyer); a blocked guitarist (Forbes March); and a virginal grad student in English literature (Jordan Gelber) who is worried about his weight. They are an appealing, vulnerable group, and the film is a showcase for its gifted young actors; not surprisingly, Baccarin has a starring role in Universal’s upcoming sci-fi film “Serenity.” Well paced and affectionately observant, “Way Off Broadway” is a good example of a low-low-budget first film in which the filmmaker got everything just right -- and avoided biting off more than he could chew.

-- Kevin Thomas

“Way Off Broadway,” Fairfax Cinemas, 7907 Beverly Blvd. (at Fairfax Avenue), (323) 655-4010. (1:28) Unrated. Some language, adult themes.

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‘Fear and Trembling’

Adapted from Amelie Nothomb’s autobiographical novel, “Fear and Trembling” chronicles the folly of a young Japanese-born Belgian who left the country of her birth at age 5, returning as an adult to fulfill her dream of becoming “a true Japanese.” After much perseverance, Amelie (Sylvie Testud) lands a job at a giant Tokyo corporation, where she proceeds to make one innocent blunder after another. Astutely directed by Alain Corneau, “Fear and Trembling” is a dark comedy that reveals the stultifying rigidity of Japanese office life -- which the film persuasively suggests endures to this day. But it is also a tribute to those office workers who endure a harsh and oppressive system in the name of upholding their sense of honor in the face of adversity that can border on the absurd. The film reveals the terrible stifling of imagination that can occur in such a system: Amelie’s initially kind boss (Kaori Tsuji), a stunningly beautiful woman, has become so frustrated by office protocol -- and so ingrained in her sense of Japanese superiority -- that she genuinely believes Amelie is stupid because she doesn’t fit in. In truth Amelie is resourceful, resilient and perceptive, and for her radiant performance, Testud won the 2004 best actress Cesar, the French film award.

-- Kevin Thomas

“Fear and Trembling,” Fairfax Cinemas, 7907 Beverly Blvd. (at Fairfax Avenue), (323) 665-4010. (1:42) In Japanese and French, with English subtitles. Unrated. Mature themes.