I know it's meta, but did it have to be so slow and boring?

As pointless a film as I've ever seen. The plot is just downright boring and gives you no reason to keep watching. And at points the acting was laughably bad. It is inconceivable that this film was nominated for the Golden Lion. A waste of two hours.

Yes, it is a film-within-a-film shot as a cheap, campy noir. And yes, it is supposed to be completely empty, a lackluster work of a director trying to depict the life of a real woman -- or of his own life being dragged by the main actress that is playing this real woman and also this confusing process of falling in love and making a film and being part of these both things as actor and director. It's a powerful parody (?) of Hollywood, but it just doesn't look like that. This is serious.

A movie-within-a-movie plot is bound to be alienating for some viewers, as it gives the appearance of clever-for-cleverness' sake. However, there are things to admire in this movie. Shannyn Sossamon gives a good performance as a woman blurring the lines between two roles and the digital cinematography is impressive in its crystalline drabness. Hellman, a capable director, films in a languid, dreary style that slouches toward an anticlimactic payoff. 'Road to Nowhere', indeed.

Blurring the lines between the diegesis and a film within it has potential but that concept has been put to much better use elsewhere. The mystery retained my interest for a while but the whole thing does, indeed, sort of lead nowhere.