CANNES MAN Featuring: Seymour Cassel, Francesco Quinn, Johnny Depp, Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Hopper, John Malkovich, Lara Flynn Boyle, Kevin Pollack, Treat Willams Director: Richard Martini Studio: Cinema Libre DVD release: 01 March 2011 Runtime: 88 min. (1 disc) Format: NTSC, Blu-ray DVD features: Aspect ratio 1.78:1, Audio tracks (DTS HD 2.0 Surround)

Cannes Man is an interesting film but - while not a bad premise - the execution left me flat.

Cannes Man focuses on Frank Rhinoslavsky (Francesco Quinn), a movie buff who answers an ad to courier a display for a movie to Cannes, France, for the famous eponymous film festival. After dropping off the awkward item, he tries to break into film by begging Lloyd Kaufman for a job. Unfortunately the Toxic Avenger director doesn't have anything for him, so he decides to enjoy the south of France before he catches his plane back to the States.

Meanwhile, film producer Sy Lerner (Seymour Cassel) accepts a wager to make a star out of the next schlub he sees. He spies Frank Rhinoslavsky, renames him Frank Rhino, and starts selling him around town as the greatest writer since Quentin Tarantino. Frank is asked to remain quiet as Sy sells him around town, saying his script for 'Con Man' is the bomb. Sy succeeds in selling Frank and the script, though neither one posesses any actual worth. Not the first time that's happened in Cannes, as Robert Evans tells us in one of the many interview segments of Cannes Man.

The film brims with Hollywood talent, from Johnny Depp and John Malkovich to Lara Flynn Boyle and Treat Williams. Sy peddles his non-existent script to all of them, everyone who will listen - and they all listen. Even those who've been screwed by Sy before come back for more, because Sy could sell water to a drowning man.

Seymour Cassel is perfect in the role, an excellent actor and the only thing about this movie that works well. The galaxy of superstars included aren't substantial enough players to carry the film. Though good actors, they aren't in Cannes to make this film, and their hearts aren't in it.

I see no compelling reason to have brought Cannes Man to Blu-ray. The independent film was made on a shoestring budget and upscaling the picture to hi-def doesn't bring any improvement over the DVD version, not to mention the utter lack of special features.