Review: Big-name cast can’t save ‘Me’ from vanity-project blues

At least “Me” can’t be accused of a misleading title.

A shrill Hollywood satire directed and co-written by Jefery Levy, the film concerns a washed-up, self-obsessed scripted reality TV creator named Levy (played by Levy) who’s convinced he’s the star of his own 24/7 reality show.

Aiding and abetting Levy in his delusional state is his friend Susan (co-writer and producer Susan Traylor), whom he recruits to rewrite and recast “Me: The Show” in order to boost ratings.

Little does Levy realize that Susan, who assembles an ensemble through Craigslist, proceeds to sell a real show to a network about a Hollywood eccentric who thinks he’s starring in a hidden camera reality series.

Levy, a film and TV veteran whose directing credits include the indie features “SFW” and “Inside Monkey Zetterland” as well as episodes of “Rescue Me” and “Ghost Whisperer,” appears to be reaching for Larry David with this glib comment on Tinseltown’s ever-self-absorbed ways. But even with support from the likes of Jennifer Jason Leigh, Molly Ringwald and Gina Gershon, the comedy isn’t so much sharply observed as it is obvious and obnoxious. Screening with “The Key,” another Levy film, “Me” lends a thoroughly unflattering name to the term “vanity project.”

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“Me”

MPAA rating: None

Running time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.

Playing: Laemmle’s Music Hall 3, Beverly Hills