Desperately Seeking Paul McCartney
MVDvisual
84 minutes
[trailer on YouTube, and the first two minutes of the DVD]
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FqcodcuGIg

Ruth Anson was a teenage reporter for WABC-TV in 1965 and walked up to Paul McCartney at a press conference in the Capitol Records Tower Building in Hollywood, CA. for a quick interview. In 1965 Anson is a very cute, genial, gabby teen who asked the young McCartney if he had any plans for marriage, Paul leans over and facetiously says, "No. Only if you'll marry me now." Forty years later Ruth Anson-Sowby, no longer a teenager, is still cute, still genial and gabby; but now obsessed with reconnecting with her youth. Unfortunately for her she hooks up with an odd, manipulative writer who wants to make a reality show out of her attempts to find Paul McCartney. That man is Marc Cushman, the director of this documentary. 

Cushman and his crew take Ruth and, after some initial brief attempts at interesting footage of her looking for McCartney, decide that the project is going nowhere. Cushman then calls a meeting and tells his crew that they are going to cause conflict and situations that may embarrass his subject, Ruth. His crew weakly objects and then begins to manipulate situations to film. This is where the film gets twisted, is this a documentary in the true sense, or not? Is Ruth in on the joke, or not? Is Cushman really that cold, or not? Is Ruth really that obsessed? Since all the situations in the film are manipulated, or one could say faked, is it a documentary or a Beatle-fan, "Joe Schmoe" like, reality show parody? 

I've decided to believe that Mrs. Anson-Sowby is real, and the rest of the production is not. It is faked. Even the music is faked. Made to sound like Beatles music, the soundtrack is a woefully written mess. One song central to the film is supposedly written by Ruth, according to the film, but they fool us and the song that is recorded, "Dear Paul," talks about still being in love with Paul and is written by Cushman. FYI, if you are a Beatles fan and are thinking of buying this title to see some Beatles footage or hear some Beatles music or think that Paul may be in this; there is no connection with this movie and the Beatles except for the five second clip of Ruth and Paul in 1965 which you can see on Youtube, if you want to. The film is not about Paul or any Beatle. It's about Ruth Anson-Sowby's midlife crisis and how Marc Cushman takes advantage of her to try and make a TV reality show. Mrs. Anson-Sowby is an woman obsessed. Marc Cushman is also obsessed, but with himself. However, it is interesting that Cushman is honest enough to show his manipulative, cold personality on film, unless of course, that is faked too.

After a while Ruth seems to catch on but sticks with Cushman and the project to the end. As the film comes to a climax Anson-Sowby tries to crash the Grammies because Paul McCartney is going to be at the award ceremony. The team is unsuccessful. But in the footage Cushman sees Ron Jeremy, famed male porno star, pass by in the background and that sets up the surprisingly satisfying last scene. As Ruth stands with Ron on a balcony she tells him her story, of how Paul proposed marriage to her in 1964, and Ron Jeremy gets right to the point. Must be his acting training…. 

Tony LaFianza