User Reviews

CONTROLLED CHAOS IS GREAT FUN!!! Azita Zendel's roman a clef based on her four years as an Assistant to director Oliver Stone, played to the delight of a gaggle of 20-somethings in a Palais screening salon in Cannes. "This is war, and I do what it takes to win," the director, "Rick Jones," tells his assistant, who covers up his womanizing, drug abuse and brutal self-absorption -- all for a producing credit that never comes... Zendel has guts!!!

What a riot! You get the feeling that Zendel has transcribed the Director's dialogue word for word from her experience with the Big Kahuna! I couldn't stop laughing at the mystical gibberish he sprouts to justify his womanizing, drug use, and all-around boarish behavior!!! Check it out!

I loved "Controlled Chaos." It was a very eye-opening and yet entertaining experience! I'm so glad I work in the field of documentary filmmaking where for the most part, people are honest! Here's a man who supposedly stands up for universal human rights but abuses people left and right! Go figure!

I've seen a lot of movies, somewhere in the thousands if not tens of thousands, and this one has to rank as one of the worst I've ever seen. Funny? Sure, if you think "Porkies II" or "Police Academy IV" were funny. I've had more fun at funerals.

Though, I must admit, I did find it compelling. Why? Well, because I couldn't figure out if the dialogue was written by a retarded person or perhaps by a foreigner. Every time I thought "Ok, this scene is going to work" thinking I knew the direction it was taking, instead of taking the road less traveled Ms. Zendel (Director) decided to make a lame, stereotypical and not very funny ending.

The actors weren't horrible, but even DeNiro would come across like an idiot if he had to read from Zendel's script. While it seems Zendel's career is headed to disaster, these poor actors aren't going know what hit them.

From the opening scene to the closing credits, this "movie" goes from bad to worse. It's immaturity is only surpassed by it's lack of interesting or original content. Don't believe the hype or the premise -- what could have been an insightful film about a Hollywood insider is really just a "I'm out of career paths, I think I'll try stabbing the guy who gave me a start right in the back."

Sad, sad, sad....

ND

CONTROLLED CHAOS is SWIMMING WITH SHARKS meets THE PLAYER: A former assistant to Oliver Stone makes her debut with this thinly veiled, fictional tell-all account of her time with the notoriously hot-tempered talent. Taking its title from the director's work ethic, "Controlled Chaos" stars Amy Blomquist as Elsie, the stand in for writer/director Azita Zendel, and Don Hughes as Rick Jones, the temperamental, Stone-like director who has Elsie at his beck and call. Elsie is generally sympathetic and level-headed when dealing with the minutiae of her boss' personal life, going so far as to take the blame for many of his mistakes. But when Rick's various projects, mistresses, and drug suppliers all come knocking at her door at once, Elsie is overwhelmed--a feeling not abated by the nosy investigative reporter who's looking to dig up dirt on Rick and possibly bed Elsie in the process. The independently produced "Controlled Chaos" sealed a limited theatrical release in mid-2003.

A hoot! Risky and controversial!...Oliver Stone's former assistant has reached into her past to write and direct what she knows!...You have to chuckle at the irony of a movie seemingly portraying certain aspects of Oliver Stone's personal life and working habits in roughly the same spirit that Stone's JFK and NIXON told their stories......Anyone who's read James Riordan's exhaustively researched 1995 biography will recall that Zendel was not only regularly quoted, but was right in the middle of nearly every detail of Stone's life for roughly four years, during his most prolific period. He directed JFK, HEAVEN and EARTH, NATURAL BORN KILLERS and NIXON during this time, and was involved in developing Stone's NORIEGA movie with Al Pacino, which never happened, and Stone's might-have-been EVITA with Michelle Pfeiffer.