| Pipe Dream | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | John C. Walsh |
| Written by | John C. Walsh Cynthia Kaplan |
| Starring | Mary Louise Parker Martin Donovan |
| Distributed by | Castle Hill Productions |
| Release date(s) | 2002 |
| Running time | 91 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Pipe Dream is a 2002 romantic comedy film starring Mary Louise Parker and Martin Donovan set in New York City. The film was directed by John C. Walsh, who previously wrote and directed the film Ed's Next Move.
David (Donovan), a plumber who is unsuccessful with women, creates a new identity as David Coppolberg, a film director, as a way to meet women. Due to his good looks and unfamiliarity with film, which passes for inscrutability, he is considered an indie talent.[1] Complicating the situation is the script stolen from Toni (Parker), who in turn uses his success to further her own ambitions.
Entertainment Weekly film critic Owen Gleiberman called Pipe Dream "One of the funniest films I've seen this year..." The picture was also dubbed "neo screwball" by Karen Durbin of the New York Times. Durbin notes, "In bringing class tensions into play for his sparring lovers, Mr. Walsh...revives an aspect of classic screwball that has become almost taboo in Hollywood even as the sexual strictures that once fueled the genre have dissolved." [2]
Pipe Dream was featured in Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan's 2004 book Never Coming To A Theater Near You[3] Turan's book featured a group of some less widely seen films he felt deserving of more attention. Turan writes, "The two films share Walsh's unmistakable sensibility, a gentle and unforced way of examining the vagaries of human behaviour that is as sure-handed and insightful as it is understated."