Nobody likes watching a movie about Hollywood quite as much as Hollywood does. At this year’s Toronto International Film Festival alone, there have been several films about the industry and filmmaking — and Misty Green is one of them. Directed by comedian/actor Chris Rock, in his first time helming a feature since 2014’s Top Five, the film follows the titular Misty Green (Rosalind Eleazar), an actress fading from the limelight and doing anything she can to keep her career going. Though it’s marketed as a satire and a comedy, the film never quite lands the way that Rock intends. While Eleazar shines in the leading role, Misty Green is a messy, disjointed, and bloated story that long overstays its welcome.

What Is ‘Misty Green’ About?

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Misty is having the worst week of her life when we are dropped into her world. Once an Emmy Award-winning star, today, she’s about to be kicked out of her home, money is sparse, and work is nowhere to be found; unfortunately, Misty has gained a reputation for being hard to work with. Never without a bump of coke or a spliff of weed on hand, she is undoubtedly a talented performer and singer, but she’s also the definition of a hot mess. Desperate for some cash, two paths present themselves to Misty. On one side is Zach (Adam Driver), a former co-star who fuels her drug problem and triggers the worst side of her. Zach is offering a shady get-rich-quick trip to Dubai that could lead Misty down a path of no return. On the other side is Jordan (Rock), a director who has a shaky past with Misty but is open to giving her an opportunity in his next movie, a remake of Dreamgirls that would effectively relaunch her career. As a thirtysomething Black woman in Hollywood, Misty faces not only overt racism, but also the feeling that her time is running out as she gets older. Uninterested in marriage or children, she still wants to operate unhindered in the world. She criticizes her best friend Naomi (Anna Kendrick) for getting married to a man whom she only seems to tolerate; she pushes back on roles her agent, Randy (Topher Grace), sends her when she deems them too mediocre; and, despite warnings to focus on her audition, she goes out and parties rather than studying her lines. Unfortunately, there’s nothing really new being presented here. The film’s commentary on the endless hustle of chasing stardom in Tinseltown is old hat at this point. In fact, in an age of influencers and streamers, Rock’s perspective instantly feels dated. It’s all standard Hollywood fare that feels par for the course, and nothing Misty ever does or chooses feels like a surprise. At the same time, Misty’s character feels under-explored, despite the fact that Rock dedicates all 103 minutes of this movie to her. This is not a problem unique to her, but a pervasive issue that plagues the whole cast. Driver slips into a caricature of the sleaziest dudes you’ll ever meet in Hollywood, with no real depth beyond his sinister persona. Rock’s character ultimately feels inconsistent and gratuitous. His scenes with Eleazar might be the deepest in the film, but they still end up feeling shallow. Naomi, who is meant to be a foil to the protagonist, exists largely in the periphery, occasionally popping up to be a sounding board for Misty rather than having any storyline of her own.
‘Misty Green’ Lets Rosalind Eleazar Shine Front and Center

Misty Green’s one redeeming aspect comes in the form of Eleazar. Even as Rock’s script punches Misty’s personality up to the point of absurd hyperbole, Eleazar is able to find some kind of balance between Misty’s most infuriating moments and the times when we get a glimpse at the talent that lies beneath her fading enthusiasm and growing cynicism. Eleazar grabs every scene she’s in, dominating it with charisma and fire, and offering a relentless performance of a complicated woman caught between pride and desperation. Misty’s not easy to work with; she’s got problems with drugs, and she’s got a reputation that makes people second-guess if they want to hire her. Every director and producer has to ask: Is Misty Green’s talent worth it? Is it worth dealing with all of her issues if she can deliver the performance we need? One particularly moving scene, in which she sings the Dreamgirls song “One Night Only,” proves that both Eleazar and Misty have unbeatable star power; Misty Green also manages to highlight Eleazar’s stunning singing voice. In these scenes, when Misty is able to do what she actually loves to do, all the extra baggage she carries melts away. The idea of the troubled, hard-partying star is a Hollywood stereotype, one that feels tired and overdone, but it’s a hurdle that Eleazar leaps over with ease, delivering a complex performance with layers. Eleazar, who is probably best known for her role as Louisa Guy in the Apple TV spy drama Slow Horses, is able to imbue Misty with a level of depth that simply isn’t on the page. In fact, Eleazar gives Misty so much that she consistently outshines both Rock and Driver in their scenes together.

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Chris Rock Is Doing Too Much With ‘Misty Green’

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The problem at the core of Misty Green is that there’s just too much happening. In one movie, Rock is taking on racism, classism, sexism, homelessness, abortion, mental health, and more. There’s just not enough time for it all, and the satire lacks the bite needed to land its point. Rock’s jokes and zingy one-liners are almost cringe-worthy, feeling outdated and lacking the tongue-in-cheek attitude required to sell it.

Writing-wise, the bloated script is in dire need of editing. A key example of this is his decision to cast Daniel Kaluuya as Jay, Misty’s troubled brother. This should have been a win for Rock, especially since Kaluuya delivers gravitas to every role he plays. However, he ends up being sorely underused and part of a storyline that both dramatizes and villainizes bipolar disorder — as the LAPD hunts for a murderer (yet another background subplot that runs through the film), Jay is targeted by the police for something he didn’t do. When Jay steps in as an agent of chaos in Misty’s already chaotic life, there’s an ambiguous and problematic backstory that we get glimpses of through stylized flashbacks, but he lacks any true development to make him a fully realized character. This is just one example of the many problems with Misty Green. While movies about Hollywood are not uncommon, they don’t have to all hit the same beats. But Rock’s latest entry is retreading familiar ground. The performative nature, the feast-or-famine state of being, the feeling of your dreams slipping through your fingers — in this aimlessness, the film overstays its welcome. It’s clear that Rock should have spent more time trimming down Misty Green into something more succinct. There was potential for a great movie here, but it lacks the refinement to make it anything more than just another forgettable drama in a sea of dramas at the festival.