Living in Oblivion

Living in Oblivion (1995)

  • 87% of critics liked it
    (31 reviews)

  • 84% of users liked it
    (7,342 ratings)

Following up his debut, Johnny Suede, director Tom DiCillo presented this filmmaking comedy that allegedly draws much from DiCillo's experiences on the set of the 1991 Brad Pitt vehicle. Steve Buscemi stars as Nick Reve, the long-suffering director of a no-budget independent film. If he's… More

Play Trailer

R,
Directed By
Written By
Tom DiCillo
Genres
Drama, Comedy
In Theaters
Jul 14, 1995 Wide
Sony Pictures Home Entertainment

Critic Reviews

  • Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

    A hip indie version of Truffaut's Day for Night, Living in Oblivion celebrates the very act of filmmaking as grand folly, a triumph of absurdist heroism.

  • Geoff Andrew, Time Out

    A treat.

  • Mick LaSalle, San Francisco Chronicle

    A very funny picture that presents the world of independent film making as a nightmare of conflicting egos, budgetary squalor and incompetence.

  • Desson Thomson, Washington Post

    "Oblivion" has a surrealistic, guilty-fun quality. It feels almost too good to be true.

  • Hal Hinson, Washington Post

    So you wanna make a movie? Well, first, you should see "Living in Oblivion," Tom DiCillo's savagely funny satire of the world of independent filmmaking.

Read all 12 critic reviews

See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)

Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)

Featured Audience Ratings

  • Bob S


    Meta. I just wanted to say meta.

  • Ken S


    A must see for ANYONE who has ever worked on a low budget indie.

  • Curtis L


    Proof that Steve Buscemi needs to be a leading role in more movies. Gotta say, I wasn't taken in at first, but being too lazy to change the movie, it ended up being a pretty awesome film. Even from just directing movies for fun I understand how much it can drive you crazy and… More

  • Coxxie M


    Catherine Keener is the hottest old rag in the world.

  • xGary X


    Witty satire of indie films and the movie making process starring Steve Buscemi. Clever rather than laugh out loud funny, and the film within a film (within a film?) format sometimes seems in danger of drowning in it's own post-modernism, but it's an interesting curiosity… More

Read all 10 featured audience ratings

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Cast

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