ivansxtc.

The trivial and misleading text message of the title masks what is at heart a serious attempt - inspired by Tolstoy's Ivan Ilyich - to confront mortality at a time of spiritual vacancy in the penthouse of decadent culture. We're straight into the court intrigues of the Hollywood fast lane for this initially familiar tale of A list agent Ivan, celebrating the poaching of Weller's homophobe, misogynist actor Don West at the same time as receiving a diagnosis of lung cancer. That he loses the battle is no surprise, as the film opens with his demise. But his belated redemption is genuinely powerful, unfolding as it does within a striking, digitally shot LA of burnished, terminal light, its streets as empty as the souls of its brokers.