L.A. Without a Map (1999)

Doctor Who got tired of England and platonic relationships with English girls, so he flies to America and marries L.A. actress wannabe. :D7/10

Richard (David Tennant) is a Scottish undertaker who dreams of being a screenwriter. To his amazement, the woman of his casting dreams, aspiring actress Barbara (Vinessa Shaw) meets him unexpectedly as a tourist in his native land. She is flattered by Richard's immediate attentions and the two spark up a friendship until its time for Barbara to go home. End of story? Not quite. Richard decides to take an extended vacation and travel to Los Angeles in search of his true love. After all, maybe his yearning to make it as a screenwriter will be better realized in Hollywood, too. His initial landing in the city is humorous as he goes to the bad part of town and is the target of scorn by the tough guys. Yet, a man rescues him, takes him to a vacant apartment and gets him a job as a pool boy. Now, Rich must make an entrance at the fancy restaurant where Barb works and see if she missed him. It's a surprise and surreal reunion. There are also complications as Barbara has a boyfriend with many connections in the movie business. How can she dump her current beau for Richard, when she is just about to "make it" in Tinseltown? Can she get good advice from Julie (Julie Delpy) , a zany co-worker at the eatery? This sweet film is definitely enhanced by Tennant's winning ways and handsome face. He is a charmer and quite funny. Shaw is beautiful indeed but somewhat of a cold fish. Delpy has her moments while, most importantly, Johnny Depp makes a cameo that is side-splitting. The scenery, costumes, script and direction are all above average. For romcom fans, like me, there is always an endless pursuit to find hidden gems like this movie of 25 years ago.

So interesting to see the cultural differences between English and Americans. I like people in California in general, but sometimes something about their attitude makes me sad. This movie shows some points why I feel sad. It is very important that Americans are recognized that and made it funny of it. That's why I can not hate American people.Vincet is quite interesting actor. I like him and his films. This film is one of the best he was in.I recommend this film to people who is interested in to see Californian culture and British culture. By the way, the Japanese title for this movie is "Go Go LA". Interesting, hum?I miss California so much. I wanna live there again someday.

As a director, Mika Kaurismäki is definitely not as talented as his brother Aki, the drawer of great films like La vie de bohéme and Drfiting Clouds. L.A. Without a Map has nothing in it, and proves with "Condition Red" and "Last Border" that Mika Kaurismäki has lost his touch of directing. With "L.A." M. Kaurismäki tries to make a some sort of a satire of Hollywood, and connects it to a love story of a british undertaker and a lovely waitress from Hollywood. David Tennant and Vinessa Shaw play the main characters with out any kind of charisma. When Tennant's undertaker wants to be a writer and Shaw's waitress wants to be an actress in any cost, their relationship in Hollywood seems to be an impossible thing to work out.Vincent Gallo and Julie Delpy make a charming couple in the film, but their chracters are very poorly sketched. Johnny Depp and Jerzy Skolimowski make funny cameos.L.A. Without a Map won't make you laugh when it's supposed to, trust me. But it's not as bad you might expect, it's not a pathetic picture. Kaurismäki has only made a film that will easily erase from memory. And because of that, you can safely watch it. But that's not much.