Stephen Tobolowsky's Birthday Party

You know this actor even though you can't place his name. He's one of the hardest working men in show business, with more than 100 appearances in movies, not to mention his frequent stage and voice-over work. He's a Dallas native who even in high school, as a member of Stevie Ray Vaughan's first rock band, had to get used to playing second fiddle to the leading man. Most people, if they recognize him, will remember him from his role as Ned Ryerson, the friendly insurance agent crossing the street in Groundhog Day. In this film, however, Tobolowsky gets to be the man of the hour. Birthday Party is more or less a performance film, in which the film director Brinkmann (a cinematographer and longtime Tobolowsky friend, who here makes his directing debut) captures the actor is full raconteur mode. Tobolowsky is a great storyteller, and these tales from his life experiences provide great entertainment. Brinkmann is not always shrewd about his directorial choices, and Tobolowsky's stories might benefit from a little more context, but what comes through clearly is that this man is a natural-born actor whose talent for life is the bedrock of his art.