Actor Martinez is a 2016 American mockumentary film written and directed by Mike Ott and Nathan Silver and starring Arthur Martinez.

Actor Martinez
Directed by
Written by
  • Mike Ott
  • Nathan Silver
Produced by
  • Britta Erickson
  • Katie Shapiro
  • Patrick Hackett
  • Heika Burnison
StarringArthur Martinez
CinematographyAdam J. Minnick
Edited byGerald D. Rossini
Music byNicole Arbusto
Production
company
Mary Jane Films
Distributed byBreaking Glass Pictures
Release dates
  • January 28, 2016 (2016-01-28) (IFFR)
  • March 10, 2017 (2017-03-10) (United States)
Running time
75 minutes[1]
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Premise

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Independent film directors Mike Ott and Nathan Silver are hired by Arthur Martinez, a Denver computer repairman and would-be actor, to make a film starring Arthur as a fictionalized version of himself.[1]

Cast

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  • Arthur Martinez as Arthur
  • Lindsay Burdge as Lindsay
  • Mike Ott as Mike
  • Nathan Silver as Nathan
  • Kenneth Berba as Kenneth
  • Rae Radka as Rae
  • Sarah Sansoni as Casting Call Featured Extra
  • Andy Hankins as Extra
  • Connor Long as Tech Appointment Featured Extra
  • Bobby Black as Bobby
  • Sanaz Fatemi as Casting Call Featured Extra
  • Cindy Silver as Cindy
  • Cory Zacharia as Cory
  • Allie Escaffi as Meeting Participant

Release

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Actor Martinez premiered at the International Film Festival Rotterdam on January 28, 2016.[2] Its North American premiere was held at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 14, 2016.[3] It was released in select theaters on March 10, 2017.[1]

Reception

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The film has an 82% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 17 reviews.[4]

Guy Lodge of Variety gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Narrative and reality clash, tussle, and are eventually rendered indistinguishable in a witty, tortured puzzle picture..."[5]

Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of The A.V. Club graded the film a B−, calling it a "funny, low-key head-scratcher..."[1]

Charles Bramesco of Uproxx gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Actor Martinez is more like a dense work of film criticism that plays like a movie, and an enjoyable one at that."[6]

Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter gave the film a negative review and wrote, "Actor Martinez raises plenty of questions. The problem is that none of them are particularly interesting."[7]

Chuck Bowen of Slant Magazine awarded the film three and a half stars out of four and wrote, "Mike Ott and Nathan Silver's Actor Martinez has a ghostly, tremulous quality that's bound to get under the skin."[8]

Marjorie Baumgarten of The Austin Chronicle awarded the film two stars out of five and wrote, "Everyone involved in Actor Martinez deserves kudos for the effort, but the unengaging result would be better chalked up to a failed experiment rather than shared with others in theatrical settings."[9]

Andy Webster of The New York Times gave the film a positive review and wrote, "The self-references here, while intriguing, approach a comic navel-gaze. "Actor Martinez" has a saving grace, however: Ms. Burdge, radiating her customary charisma."[10]

Kimber Myers of the Los Angeles Times gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Don't let the low-res, low-budget filmmaking fool you. Actor Martinez is an ambitious film that works on a variety of levels."[11]

Jason Bailey of Flavorwire gave the film a positive review and wrote, "Fascinatingly, the film keeps working its way around to the very questions we're asking of it, and bouncing up against its own boundaries in ways that are either reflective or indulgent, or maybe both."[12]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Vishnevetsky, Ignatiy (March 8, 2017). "Fiction poisons reality in Actor Martinez, an offbeat portrait of a would-be star". The A.V. Club. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  2. ^ Walsh, Katie (January 27, 2016). "Rotterdam Exclusive: Clip From Nathan Silver And Mike Ott's 'Actor Martinez' Casts A Girlfriend". IndieWire. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  3. ^ "What to Do Today: April 14". Tribeca Film Festival. April 14, 2016. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
  4. ^ "Actor Martinez". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  5. ^ Lodge, Guy (March 10, 2017). "Film Review: 'Actor Martinez'". Variety. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  6. ^ Bramesco, Charles (April 15, 2016). "Tribeca 2016: The Ingenious Meta-Doc 'Actor Martinez' Is A Riddle Inside A Puzzle Inside An Engima". Uproxx. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  7. ^ Scheck, Frank (April 19, 2016). "'Actor Martinez': Tribeca Review". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  8. ^ Bowen, Chuck (March 6, 2017). "Review: Actor Martinez". Slant Magazine. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  9. ^ Baumgarten, Marjorie (March 24, 2017). "Actor Martinez". The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  10. ^ Webster, Andy (March 16, 2017). "Review: Fiction and Nonfiction Blur in 'Actor Martinez'". The New York Times. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  11. ^ Myers, Kimber (March 9, 2017). "Review: Docufiction 'Actor Martinez' questions cinematic truth". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  12. ^ Bailey, Jason (April 14, 2016). "10 Tribeca Film Festival Movies You Have to See". Flavorwire. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
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