“Reality TV is constantly out-ridiculizing itself, so whatever absurd thing you can come up with, they do it and they’re serious about it,” says writer-director Greg Pritikin, who once made Super-8 action films at Highland Park High. For his third feature—after the Wicker Park indie “Totally Confused” and “Dummy” starring Adrien Brody—Pritikin makes a cynical mock-doc. The “Survivor”-like “The Garden of Eden” covers its winning contestant (Michael Panes) with two making-of crews that supply our point of view. After winning a million bucks, this obese reality-TV celebrity makes an ugly downturn back to being a nobody. “It’s not who’s at the party, it’s who’s not at the party,” notes a knowing insider. Along for the ride are Jane Lynch and Gary Sam Robards as the TV show’s viperous producers, Cheri Oteri as a Cicero canine euthanizer and Savannah Haske as a South Bend nun-cum-metalhead. Peter Dinklage drips acidic insincerity as the contestant’s sidekick, and John Landis is withering as a psychiatrist to the stars. Pritikin may not deconstruct reality TV, but pricks its underside and indulges in its high-ratings prurience. With Ileana Douglas, Conchata Farrell. 89m. (Bill Stamets)
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