The Nowhere Inn is a comedy about the making of a fictional showbiz documentary. Carrie Brownstein (Portlandia) plays herself directing a documentary about her real life friend, the avant-garde musician Annie Clark, who performs as St. Vincent. (Bill Benz is the actual director of The Nowhere Inn.)
Now here’s the best part of The Nowhere Inn. We see snippets of St. Vincent’s dazzling performances. And, even when off stage, the camera loves Annie Clark and her magnetism
In The Nowhere Inn, Annie Clark sees herself, when not “on” as St. Vincent, as an introvert who gets pleasure from mundane pursuits like eating radishes. That creates tension with Brownstein, who needs more interesting back stage content for the doc. The two get increasingly annoyed with each other until Brownstein ambushes Clark with a situation that is too emotionally raw.
This is witty and all mildly amusing. And then The Nowhere Inn gets sillier, as Clark and a famous sexpot actress show up in black lingerie (the actress deadpans “Annie turned me gay”) and force Brownstein to film their amorous play. Then there’s a Texas segment which looks like a late night comedy sketch shoehorned in – which it is.
These are two smart and talented women, and the movie is maybe half as funny as they are. If you need a dose of St. Vincent’s sexy vibrancy, then watch her perform instead.