Awesome / Living in Oblivion

• In the opening act of the film, Nicole doggedly plods through take after take of her serious scene about talking to her elderly mom about being beaten by her dad, getting more and more bored and perfunctory, until an exasperated Nick decides to have them run the lines without the camera. Nicole apologises to the other actor, who casually strokes her face to reassure her, and the gesture reminds Nicole of her own dead mother. She's so stunned and upset that she barely notices Nick calling for them to start, and delivers a heart-rending reading of her part which raises the other actor's performance too. Nick calls for the camera to roll but Wolf the cameraman is too busy puking his guts up and none of it gets filmed. CMOA for Catherine Keener, too, playing an OK actress who is suddenly heart-stoppingly brilliant for three minutes.