Day 5 with "Bill"

Day 5 of the fest rolled in with just a single movie screening, due to my inability to roll out of bed early enough on my frist day to sleep in a week and with an oncoming cold, coupled with my hatred of anime films which is strong enough for me to turn down free passes to a screening.

Sadly missed “The Orphanage” but lined up for dark comedy “Bill” starring Aaron Eckhart. “Bill” was a tough decision for me as there were two other films I desperately wanted to see that were playing at the same time. But wanting a little variety with some comedy in my schedule, I opted for “Bill.” Boy, did I make a bad decision.

Bill (Aaron Eckhart) is a middle aged man, stuck in a rut at his job where his father-in-law boss takes him for granted, with a wife that cheats on him with the town reporter, who is now forced to participate in a student mentorship program when all Bill really wants to do is own a donut shop.

The film seems to be tailor made for laughs, but instead comes off as a pianful and bubmling mess with no clear director. A rather talented comic cast featuring SNL alums Jason Sudiekis and Kriten Wiig are cast aside and barely featured. The insufferable Jessica Alba gets second billing, even though she doesn’t appear until 30 minutes into the film- and she’ll have you wishing she had stayed off camera. Alba is terrible. Her “Acting” or lack thereof sticks out like a sore thumb from an otherwise okay round of performances. I can’t help but wonder if scenes with her were left on the cutting room floor due to her lack of skill.

The entire blame of the film does not rest of Alba’s shoulders as the film is poorly structured and edited together in an at time, almost inchoerent logic. Eckhart, who has proved himself a stellar performer in dark comedies like “Thank You for Smoking” is wasted here. The comedy is never funny enough, dark enough, or good enough to eleict any real laughs. How “Bill” slipped into the TIFF line-up is beyond me.

The entire cast was present for the screening including Eckhart, Alba, Wiig, Sudiekis, and Elizabeth Banks and another young co-star. Alba ducked out of the screening early to return at the tail end of the Q&A so perhaps she too was disappointed in the film.

Eckhart doesn’t seem to have much luck this year at TIFF: word on the street has it that his other film, “Nothing is Private” is so bad, that even Eckhart walked out before the end of the film.