Steve Mnuchin's wife Louise Linton has been panned by critics for her new movie 'Me You Madness' who mocked her foray into Hol...
Steve Mnuchin's wife Louise Linton has been panned by critics for her new movie 'Me You Madness' who mocked her foray into Hollywood as 'an insult to vanity projects' and 'a knockoff Louis Vuitton bag of a movie.'
Linton, 40, wrote, produced, directed, starred in and financed the film where she plays a knife-wielding, sex-obsessed serial killer opposite Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick.
The movie, which was available to stream on demand from February 12, tells the story of ultra-wealthy Malibu hedge fund manager turned murderer Catherine Black who meets and lures in petty thief Tyler.
Linton, who plays Black, has admitted the character has more than a few nods to her own public image, telling Times Magazine it 'takes the mickey out of my public persona'.
As wife of the former treasury secretary, Linton was branded the 'Marie Antoinette of the Donald Trump administration' following a series of infamous photos where she showed off her wealth including a snap of the couple posing with freshly printed dollar bills.
Linton, 40, wrote, produced, directed, starred in and financed the film where she plays a knife-wielding, sex-obsessed serial killer opposite Gossip Girl star Ed Westwick (pictured together in the film)
Linton and Westwick playing Catherine Black and Tyler in the movie released Friday
Steve Mnuchin's wife Louise Linton has been panned by critics for her new movie 'Me You Madness' who mocked her foray into Hollywood as 'an insult to vanity projects' and 'a knockoff Louis Vuitton bag of a movie.' Pictured a clip from the trailer
But several reviews have slammed the dark comedy with the Hollywood Reporter calling it 'exceedingly laborious' and another sign that Linton can't 'read a room.'
'Louise Linton surely knows what much of the country thinks of her,' THR said, pointing to those notorious snaps.
'So it's refreshing that her directorial/screenwriting debut Me You Madness, in which she stars as a fashion- and fitness-obsessed narcissistic serial killer, very much indicates that she's in on the joke. The problem is that it's a godawful joke.'
The review went on to say with its 'tiresome attempts to send up its star's image and not take itself too seriously, the film becomes exceedingly laborious.
'We're treated to so many lascivious shots of Linton's toned, bared physique that one would accuse the filmmaker of sexual exploitation if it weren't Linton herself.'
It continued: 'But then again, she never did know how to read a room.
According to the review, the bottom line is: 'To call this a vanity project is an insult to vanity projects.'
CNN also took aim at Linton's vanity with journalist Brian Lowry calling it 'beyond a mere vanity project.'
'Louise Linton became the Trump administration's poster child for opulent excess, and leans into that image by writing/directing/producing/starring in "Me You Madness," a weird comedic thriller that represents whatever's beyond a mere vanity project,' he tweeted.
CNN's review described the movie as an 'extended perfume commercial or music video, possessing roughly as much substance.'
Critics from CNN, the Hollywood Reporter, Salon and the LA Times (above) panned the movie on Twitter
'This whatever's-beyond-vanity project that she wrote, directed, produced and stars in winks at the camera so often you begin to fear for her eyelids as well as your own,' the review read.
The lead character's 'dialogue almost sounds like the character is speaking for her alter ego' when she speaks of Black's obsession with material possessions.
Ultimately, the review labels it as a 'reminder that you can clearly try to be funny' but actually turn 'out to be kind of a joke'.
NBC blasted it as a 'knockoff Louis Vuitton bag of a movie' and ' a perfect artifact of the Trump era.'
The outlet panned the movie saying it had been 'made by bad people with more money than sense' and hit out at the timing of releasing a movie about the ultra rich at a time when the nation is crippled by mass unemployment.
'It's a bad movie made by bad people, and I'd make everyone I know watch it if that weren't exactly what writer/director Louise Linton wanted,' it read.
'The whole event is a portrait of entitlement, narcissism and delusion - possibly even a mostly intentional one - but if it sends any message, it's that we desperately need a massive wealth tax.'
NBC went on to say that if the movie came out 'during a time of genuine prosperity, it would have been mildly offensive' but given the current climate it is a 'brazen move'.
'If the point of "Me You Madness" was to prove that Louise Linton doesn't live in the same world as 99.99 percent of her fellow humans, she succeeded.'
The movie, which was available to stream on demand from February 12, tells the story of ultra-wealthy Malibu hedge fund manager turned murderer Catherine Black who meets and lures in petty thief Tyler
Linton, who plays Black, has admitted the character has more than a few nods to her own public image, telling Times Magazine it 'takes the mickey out of my public persona'
CNN described it as an 'extended perfume commercial or music video, possessing roughly as much substance'
However, the critic did have some more positive words. They admitted that - despite its flaws - 'I am ashamed to admit that I'm obsessed with "Me You Madness."'
But the praise was short-lived as the review said that 'watching people with more money than sense try to be clever can be funny' but 'the biggest joke is the one being played by the creators by getting people to watch it'.
'It's a knockoff Louis Vuitton bag of a movie, an objectively ugly and poorly made attempt to claim status that hasn't been earned. It's a perfect artifact of the Trump era,' NBC concluded.
Deadline was somewhat kinder calling Linton's art 'a colorful but mindless confection' that 'never meets the moment of what Linton clearly hoped it would be, a kind of smart Heathers-like black comedy'.
'It ultimately is just too vapid to be memorable in that way, too undisciplined to really work to the levels to which it aspires,' the critic writes.
'In other words, it is dumb — yes, dumb — fun if you’re in the mood, but not much else. Hard to seriously recommend for Valentine’s Day, though.'
Vulture panned the movie as 'one overwritten, obnoxious, hyper-self-aware rant after another' with a 'Looney Tunes–style verve to the action'.
'Me You Madness consistently seems to think it’s a lot smarter - and, for that matter, a lot crazier - than it is,' its review reads.
'The sound design also plays up various effects — a whoosh here, a clang there, a cat screech there, even a couple of farts — as if to lend some Looney Tunes–style verve to the action, but that just adds to the dissonance, because what’s happening onscreen isn’t nearly fast or funny enough to warrant these audio punctuations.'
Viewers 'keep waiting for something interesting to happen' but are simply left with 'poorly written rants, indifferently staged action, and ill-conceived comedy', the review concluded.
The Hollywood Reporter wrote: 'To call this a vanity project is an insult to vanity projects'
Hollywood reporter for the LA Times Amy Kaufman hit out at Linton for making light of a scene where Black sexually assaults Westwick's Tyler after Westwick was accused of rape by two women and sexual assault by a third, at the height of the #MeToo movement in 2017.
'In Louise Linton's new movie, her character apparently Roofies a man played by Ed Westwick, gropes him while he's unconscious and says "Oh, shut up, PC police! No one wants to hear you bitch about it." (Westwick, btw, has been accused of raping women IRL.),' Kaufman tweeted.
The LA County District Attorney declined to press any charges against Westwick over the allegations.
Linton previously defended the casting of Westwick, saying: 'I don't believe that he did those thing. I don't really believe in torpedoing someone's career when they've been absolved of doing something.'
Despite this week's dismal reviews, Linton didn't seem deterred as she took to social media writing: 'I had the absolute best time working on the film over the past couple of years. Can’t wait for you all to see #MeYouMadness.'
She told the Times: 'I have a sense of humor. I'm able to make fun of myself for entertainment.'
Despite this week's dismal reviews, Linton didn't seem deterred as she took to social media
Westwick also promoted the movie tweeting 'I hope you have as much fun watching it as we did making it'
Westwick also promoted the movie tweeting 'I hope you have as much fun watching it as we did making it.'
The film was made under Linton's Stormchaser Films company and was acquired by STXfilms and Highland Film Group for distribution.
It follows the story of Black, a serial killer hedge fund manager, who lives a life of luxury with a dream house in Malibu, designer clothes, fast cars, and exquisite jewelry.
She meets Tyler a petty thief when he responds to her online roommate ad.
Black had posted the ad to lure in her next victim but the pair fall in love.
Linton gushed about the film in a statement to DailyMail.com in April of 2020.
'Thanks to my killer crew and cast, the movie is every bit the playful 80's homage I dreamed of when I wrote it,' she said at the time.
'It was a joyful set, even under pressure. Ed Westwick is a phenomenal actor, collaborator, friend and creative force who became my co-pilot on many creative aspects of the film,' she added.
Linton has sought to use the movie to prove she is a liberal who believes in diversity and inclusion, setting her apart politically from her husband and his work for the Trump administration.
In fact, she said in May that she made sure to hire transgender actors.
'I made sure I cast a transgender actor, two African-American women, a gay guy and a gender-neutral person,' she told the Sunday Times.
'This was partly to represent who I am as a filmmaker and how I love diversity and inclusivity.'
As wife of the former treasury secretary, Linton was branded the 'Marie Antoinette of the Donald Trump administration' following a series of infamous photos. The first was an August 2017 Instagram post, where she tagged the fashion brands she wore while exiting a government plane with her husband on a trip to discuss tax policy (above)
She was mocked when she posed with husband Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin at the Bureau of Engraving with freshly printed dollar bills
First Lady Melania Trump, President Donald Trump, Secretary of the Treasury Steven Mnuchin, Louise Linton, Vice President Mike Pence, and Second Lady Karen Pence pose at the wedding of Mnuchin and Linton on June 24, 2017, at Andrew Mellon Auditorium in Washington, DC
Linton has been recasting herself as a serious actress after a series of gaffes undermined her public image.
'I'm a filmmaker, I'm not a politician,' she told the Hollywood Reporter last year.
But as a politician's wife, Linton was slammed and labeled the 'Marie Antoinette of the Donald Trump administration' after a series of infamous photos captured her showing off her wealth.
The first was an August 2017 Instagram post, where she tagged the fashion brands she wore while exiting a government plane with her husband on a trip to discuss tax policy.
Critics seized on the post, to which she responded condescendingly: 'Have you given more to the economy than me and my husband? … You're adorably out of touch.'
That was followed by a November 2017 visit to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, where Linton, clad in black and wearing long leather gloves, held up a sheet of freshly printed dollar bills in a photo with Mnuchin.
She later apologized for the posts and relaunched her Instagram feed in 2018 with a focus on charity work.
'I was so stupid,' Linton told Elle in an interview in February. 'I wish I could take it back.'
'I wasn't thinking about who I am,' she added. 'I wasn't thinking, I am the wife of this person and thus I should act like the wife of this person.'
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