The Deep Whatsis

Eric Nye, the conceited, perpetually titillated “chief idea officer” of a New York ad agency, fashions himself an artist but in reality earns his living firing people, in Mattei’s morbidly satiric look at corporate culture at the crossroads of art and consumerism. An art snob and metrosexual, Nye relishes fine things—his “Dalai Lama Edition Tibetan” rug, expensive Oma Blue Fin sushi, and now an intern with a face like “God smiling on sunshine.” After a night with her becomes a prolonged crush, Nye finds himself unable to resist her stalkerlike infatuation and begins to push the limits of his power. When the intern shows up with a conspicuous shiner, “HR Lady,” normally Nye’s partner in crime, threatens to end the fun and go to the boss, “deranged pit bull” Barry Spinotti. It will take some ruthlessness and deft schmoozing for Nye to escape. When not cultivating his “Milgram-esque biosphere of doom” at work, Nye spends his time tormenting an old friend, lambasting Williamsburg’s “fashionable white... little fishies,” and indulging in prescription drugs. In this debut, Mattei serves up a rampant critique of haute New York society, but a frustratingly conventional finale makes you wonder if Nye has learned anything at all. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment. (July)