In the actual reality of the real world, Jamie Block is a New York-based financial advisor by day and anti-folk musician by night. He even released an album on Capitol records back in 1998. Now he is trying to make a comeback. Enter Onur Tukel, an eager and energetic indie film director who tried his hand at filmmaking, lost his nerve, moved to Virginia, and is now back in New York to make his comeback. Together, they take on the dubious project of filming a music video for each song from Block's self-released album, Whitecaps on the Hudson, with varying results. That much is actually true. The rest of Abby Singer/Songwriter fabricates their working process and collaboration in an improvised meta-comedy that should be a whole lot more fun than it is. Conceptually, it lands somewhere between Once and 8 1/2, but with none of the grace, charm or insight.
Tukel is a naturally funny guy and much of his fast-paced banter as a (hopefully) lampooned version of himself is funny, while Block is a game and egoless collaborator. The problem is that the improvised script is simply incoherent and contrived and what may be intended as frothy new wave experimentation comes off as an overlong student buddy film that turns its horny gaze on Block's daughters one too many times. It's not just that the cringe-worthy moments that sink it, though, it's the boring ones.
The music videos themselves (shown partially in the film) are hit and miss - the vampire pizza party is pretty funny, with a sharp punch line, while the Occupy Wall Street video is at least intriguing. The singing clown in the park, though, is harder to swallow.
The film's true inspiration lies in its final minutes, and you wish there was more of it. This is where Tukel's neurotic energy as a filmmaker really comes through in a Fellini-meets-Godard jazz editing freak out as Block's character has a (contrived and unsubstantiated) meltdown. If Tukel had applied a bit more concept or structure from the outset, there could be a fun meta-transcendent film here. What there is instead is regrettably taxing and unrewarding.
