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Richard Dreyfuss (Jaws, The Goodbye Girl) stars as ‘Boy Wonder’, a washed up filmmaker making silent pornos in his secluded mansion in the early 1930s. Inserts is a ‘day in the life’ film that takes place in real time, kicking off as Dreyfuss’s lead actress, Harlene (Alien‘s Veronica Cartwright), shows up for work. She tries to flirt with Dreyfuss, but he shuns her overtures because he’s impotent. Once ‘Rex the Wonder Dog’ (Stephen Davies) shows up, the three start shooting a steamy sex scene that transforms into rape and murder under Dreyfuss’s direction. The shoot is interrupted by the arrival of the producer (Who Framed Roger Rabbit‘s Bob Hoskins) and his fiancee (Suspiria‘s Jessica Harper), who are appalled at what they see being filmed. As Dreyfuss’s sanity is questioned, things spiral further when Harlene dies from a drug overdose. While Hoskins and Davies dispose of her body, Dreyfuss meets his match in Harper, an aspiring actress who convinces him to finish shooting the sex scene with her as Harlene’s body-double — an idea that the ‘Boy Wonder’ is sure will end in no good, even though it may cure his impotence.
Inserts is an intimate, claustrophobic affair. Writer/director John Byrum’s screenplay feels very much like a stage play, confined to one location and five characters. Though it was initially rated X for nudity (then revised to NC-17 many years later), it’s not gratuitous or exploitive. All the characters are well developed and driven by personal agendas. The acting is solid, especially from Cartwright, who disappears into her loose, happy-go-lucky character. Dreyfuss excels in this type of role — the type that is driven to frustration by other characters until he snaps.
The first half is a comedy of errors until Harlene dies. The second half is off-putting at first, becoming a two-character power play between Dreyfuss and Parker’s characters. It’s almost like a different movie, but still interesting in the way Dreyfuss’s impotence seems to be cured by his loss of control with Parker. Dark comedy is sprinkled throughout the movie — a bit of it crass and direct, more of it obtuse. The film isn’t focused in its meaning or message (if there is one), and Dreyfuss’s character seems far more complex than the film reveals. In the end, I’m not sure quite what to make of Inserts. But it’s fun to watch these well-known actors at play. And the fact that I was never bored and curious about where Byrum was heading counts for a lot.