Given the opportunity, I would much rather watch a failed experiment than a run-of-the-mill and formulaic studio film; the persons involved on the more experimental projects tend to have more heart and passion about what they are creating than do people working on a Raja Gosnell film. Fortunately for writer/director Michael Rymer’s feature, Perfume, I wasn’t put in a position where I was forced to choose one type of film or the other. Perfume is that rare movie that takes a rather sizeable risk--there was no set shooting script, the on-screen action is almost entirely improvised–and succeeds because of the performers’ almost uniformly fine portrayals.

Set in New York’s fashion industry, Perfume is an Altman-esque interweaving of tales amongst the people in all walks of the business. Three of the major players in the film are Roberta (Rita Wilson), a designer struggling to prepare for her next show, Jamie (Jeff Goldblum), a talent scout looking for the next hot designer to come along, and Lorenzo (Paul Sorvino), a fashion mogul who has just learned that he has inoperable cancer. There are a host of other characters who interact throughout Perfume, but what plot there is consistently returns to the aforementioned three.

The look inside the fashion world is intriguing and cutthroat, but the major selling point for this film came with its unique acting approach. With no definitive screenplay, the scenes feature overlapping dialogue–something you will rarely see in any other film–and a very realistic feel to the proceedings.

Rymer’s style favors long takes (often shot with two cameras) that allows the considerable acting talent here the opportunity to get into a scene as much as is humanly possible. Goldblum and Mariel Hemingway occasionally seem uncomfortable with this free form style, but Wilson, Haris Yulin, Leslie Mann and Peter Gallagher are simply superb in their roles.

A mere footnote in the long history of cinema, Perfume is a title that is nonetheless well worth examining.