Casting About

Filmmaker Barry Hershey's impressionistic documentary about the casting process is the antidote to years of comic "audition montages," those guaranteed laugh-getting freak-show parades of no-talents mangling monologues and pulling nutty stunts in hopes of standing out from the crowd.

A fascinating and surprisingly involving film.

A nicely contemplative documentary about actors and their ambivalent relationship with that intimidating space.

A solid documentary about how art is made.

Film's warm disposition and deliberate lack of razzmatazz will hook discerning, mature viewers.

Voyeurism is central to the cinema and to acting, of course, and you'd better believe these women know it. Still, Casting About feels oddly disingenuous.