Fear, Anxiety & Depression
Fear, Anxiety and Depression is a 1989 American comedy film written and directed by Todd Solondz and starring Solondz, Stanley Tucci and Jill Wisoff.
Production
The film was Solondz's first for a major studio, after his work in film school had attracted interest and he had been offered a three-picture contract. He had wanted to title it The Young and the Hopeless and was deeply unhappy with the lack of creative control; he has called it "a painful demoralizing experience", and did not make another film for several years.Plot
Solondz plays Ira Ellis, a neurotic aspiring playwright in the East Village of Manhattan, whose latest work is titled Despair. The film consists of vignettes featuring equally pretentious and as yet unsuccessful members of the arts scene including Ira's friend, Jack, a painter; his chubby girlfriend Sharon, a mime; his subsequent girlfriend, a performance artist; and Jack's cast-off girlfriend with whom he has a fling, an actress. Meanwhile, an old classmate of Ira's, Donny, has achieved success without apparent effort and takes up with Sharon.Cast
- Todd Solondz as Ira Ellis
- Stanley Tucci as Donny
- Anne De Salvo as Sylvia
- Jill Wisoff as Sharon
- Helen Hanft as Roz
- Alexandra Gerston as Janice
- Max Cantor as Jack
- Jane Hamper as "Junk"
- J.J. Barry as Sam