Neil LaBute's THE MONEY SHOT-Takes Aim at Women & Fame-But It's Lame

Amer. playwright/dir/screenwriter, Neil LaBute is a very crafty writer, highly regarded for his work.  His film IN THE COMPAN of MEN won the Sundance & Indept. Spirit Awards.  The Amer. Acad. of Arts & Letters was awarded LaBute in '13.  He's known for his verbose venom of political incorrectness laced with misogynistic & misanthropic vitriol.  I've admired his previous plays REASONS to BE PRETTY and REASON to BE HAPPY containing female dispersions & outlandish cruelty.  Still, I found these plays to have a biting credibility to their sharp dialogue.  Amidst the harshness in his previous works, there arose empathy & insight with his well drawn characters.  THE MONEY SHOT is much more ambitious in its targets for contempt.  The play is set in LA;  home to cinema - no, that's false hype; France has that claim to fame.  Look it up!  The casts' thin facade of glamour & intelligence their flaws are soon shorn.  The characters are egomaniacal, controlling, misogynistic, cruel & witless.  There are 2 couples: a lesbian couple with a fading ingenue & bombastic screenwriter, a hetero-sexual couple; an aging male movie star married to a much younger, blonde bimbo.  The broad material for parody is sprawling.   However, LaBute missed hitting intended marks by a long shot.  The striking impacts that resonate with scorching truths went awry.  THE MONEY SHOT missed the bull's eye.  Instead, it was botoxed full of bullshit.   Don't bother looking this one up.