DVD Title: The Amateurs
Time: 96 mins
Stars: Jeff Bridges, Ted Danson, Lauren Graham, Joe Pantoliano, Jeanne Tripplehorn, William Fichter, Patrick Fugit, Tim Blake Nelson, Steven Weber, Jennifer Coolidge, Glenne Headly, and Isaiah Washington
Genre: Comedy.
Rated: R for sexual content and language.
DVD Features: Behind-the-scenes commentary with Jeff Bridges, director Michael Traeger and producer Aaron Ryder, as well as a photo gallery of pictures by Jeff Bridges, a making-of featurette, out-takes and previews.
We Recommend: Rent to make sure you like it before buying.

William Fichter is one of those actors whose name might not be instantly recognizeable, but once you see his face, you recognize him from his impressive performances in Black Hawk Down, Armageddon, Contact, Go, Crash, Heat, Strange Days, Viruosity, Quiz Show, Malcolm X, Ultraviolet, Blades of Glory, Pearl Harbor, The Perfect Storm, The West Wing, and Invasion.

Most recently, he’s starred as FBI Special Agent Alexander Mahone on the hit series Prison Break. When we talked to him, he had porn on his mind…

He spoke with Savvy to promote his new DVD The Amateurs, a comedy with an amazing ensemble cast that includes Jeff Bridges, Ted Danson, Lauren Graham, Joe Pantoliano, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Patrick Fugit, Tim Blake Nelson, Steven Weber, Jennifer Coolidge, Glenne Headly, and Isaiah Washington. In the movie, which you no doubt missed theatrically in 2005, Fichter plays loveable loser Otis. Bridges’ character, Andy, brainstorms an idea to rally his small town to produce an amateur adult film so they can all get rich. Things, as they say, do not go so smoothly.

While the subject matter may seem, well, a bit blue, The Amateurs is a sentimental movie that manages to somehow seem almost wholesome in its earnestness. You’ll undoubtedly recognize some of the characters as people you know in real life – or have at least seen on The Andy Griffith Show. Don’t forget, even Ron Howard said he was tempted to make pornos. Who can blame you when you’re typecast as “Opie”?

Pornography is one of those things that’s great from the user end – unless you spend too long pondering what happens behind the scenes. Those of us who consume the stuff but aren’t trenchcoat-in-dark-theater-types like to imagine that people who make porn are loveable but super-horny. In this movie, they aren’t even horny. The Amateurs allows us to enjoy that get-rich-quick fantasy of being in or helping make a homemade skin flick (if only we had that beautiful girl with no inhibitions and a heart of gold!). It’s the same as the recent movies The Girl Next Door and National Lampoon’s Barely Legal.

Fichter described The Amateurs as “It’s a Wonderful Life makes a porno.”

“The characters in this movie are basically decent people and can’t even watch as they are filming the scenes, so they turn around,” he said. “I read the script and thought it was a cool story, all of these oddball misfits coming together. When I was reading it, I remember wondering who was going to play this character Moose? Who is going to walk that fine line? When we got to rehearsal and I saw Ted Danson playing it, I thought he did great.”

Danson steals the show as a man who exaggerates his macho swagger so no one will suspect he’s gay – but everyone already knows so it becomes a running joke. The character has some of the best lines in the picture and his subplot adds a lot of humanity to the friendships portrayed on screen. The movie also boldly puts a comedic twist on racial and porn stereotypes with Isaiah Washington and Jeff Bridges in a couple of the more hilarious scenes. If I said anymore, it would spoil the surprise.

“(The characters) are really very sincere human beings and their pure pursuit made it a more endearing piece than the subject matter would suggest,” Fichter said. “It’s not played for, ‘Hey, c’mon, let’s get the babes!’ It’s got a lot more heart.”

The Amateurs is rated R. It may be too raunchy to watch with pre-teens or your grandmum if she never misses church, but as comedies go, this one has more than a few good belly laughs and the kind of feel-good ending that only Hollywood can deliver. A movie about pornography has never felt so saccharine sweet.

You’ll never look at a woman who works in a mattress store the same way after watching this DVD.

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The Making of The Amateurs

Fichter said the schedule was tight when shooting the film, but he did have time to make some lasting memories on set.

“The day we shot the gazebo scene, where Jeff describes what the plan is, because of where the sun was, the director said, ‘Listen, Bill, we're going to get to you... eventually.’ Finally they get it set up and a some guy in a biplane starts practicing loop-de-loops right above the gazebo! It made a tremendous amount of noise. Twenty minutes before we [would] lose the light... I talked quick!”

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On the Web:

http://www.firstlookstudios.com/films/amateurs/