Similar to "Beware of A Holy Whore", but much more boring.

Comically bitter look at filmmaking that was the result of Wenders's experiences making _Hammett_. The languid humor of the first half gives way to sharp comic suspense in the second half.

Good cinematography and some cool references, but not one of Wenders's stronger movies

Or more specifically, the state of the art. Wenders's exercise in self-analysis is, firstly, a rumination on the importance of story. On the one hand: "Stories only exist in stories, whereas life goes by without the need to turn into stories." But: "Life without stories -- it isn't worth living." And: "Without a story you're dead. You can't make a movie without a story. You ever try to build a house without walls?"