Elvis Mitchell has a friend in David Edelstein.
The New York Magazine critic has come to the defense of the embattled Mitchell, who was recently ousted from Movieline after less than three months for…well, that part isn't entirely clear.
In the wake of Mitchell's departure as chief film critic, rumors begin swirling courtesy of Deadline's Nikki Finke that the dreadlocked cineaste was shown the door over a shoddy review of Duncan Jones' "Source Code."
Finke implied that Mitchell may never have seen the film he was sounding forth on, citing a rife the critic made about Jeffrey Wright's character smoking a pipe — something director Jones tweeted only happened in a draft of "Source Code"s' script, not in the finished film.
Writing on his movie blog "The Projectionist," Edelstein says he thinks he saw Mitchell at the same "Source Code" screening he attended and, what's more, he recalls Wright smoking a pipe in the film.
"…as I think back on 'Source Code,' which I liked very much, I have a vision of Wright sucking on a pipe, and I definitely saw the movie. I also have a vision of Mitchell at the same screening, but I see a lot of movies with a lot of the same people," Edelstein writes.
Regardless, Edelstein says, Mitchell is too much of a professional to not see a film he's reviewing.
"One thing I can tell you with 100 percent certainty is that Mitchell would never, never, never write about something he didn't see. Never. Got it? Never. If there's someone who doesn't traffic in received wisdom, it's him," Edelstein writes.
As for Mitchell, no word yet on his future plans, but he'll likely land on his feet. In a career that's taken him from the Paramount lot to the New York Times, he's never been hard pressed to find work.
Keeping a job, on the other hand, has been more of a problem.
