The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002)

Diretors: Nanette Burstein & Brett Morgen
Starring: Robert Evans & archival footage

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A few years ago, I read a book entitled Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex-Drugs-and-Rock 'N' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood, a book filled with gossip, hearsay, and some outrageous quotes from the biggest and brightest of 1970's Hollywood cinema. The book takes quotes completely out of context, adds a fast-paced, multi-threaded narrative, and throws journalistic integrity out the window. In short: it's one of the most entertaining books I've ever read.

One name that kept popping up was Robert Evans, hotshot producer. You can thank Evans for such small successes as Rosemary's Baby, Love Story (where the quotation, "Love means never having to say you're sorry," comes from), The Godfather, Chinatown, and other classics from the Golden Era of Hollywood. This documentary--based on his 1994 autobiography of the same name--is so sleek and entertaining (and narrated by The Kid himself) that you don't even have to care who the bastard is to have a good time watching it. Knowing who he is helps, of course...

Unfortunately, an hour and a half isn't quite enough to get a decent picture of a man's life, especially a man who lived the way Evans lived. I recommend the hell out of this documentary, but I'm going to pick up a copy of that autobiography so I can get more dirt on one of the most fascinating guys ever to work the system. I can't help but think how fitting it is that a film about the entertainment industry followed the first rule but good: it left me wanting more.

July 12
apartment TV, early morning

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