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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
informative
medium-paced
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
It's interesting. I don't know how much of it I believe, but it's neat to hear some of these Hollywood legends from his point of view, as opposed to, say, Francis Ford Coppola's.
He likes the sound of his own voice, so I'm glad I listened to the audiobook. I don't know how well his smarminess comes across in print.
He likes the sound of his own voice, so I'm glad I listened to the audiobook. I don't know how well his smarminess comes across in print.
The most compulsively readable book I've ever gotten my hands on. If I had a quid for every time the name of an a-list celebrity or legendary cultural figure was dropped in this memoir I'd be able to afford a deposit on a house. His questionable views and treatment of women aside, as salacious accounts of a golden era of Hollywood go, this is the alpha and omega.
Audiobook
Robert Evans does a terrible Jack Nicholson impression. Other than that, my big takeaway is that behind the scenes studio deals feel like something out of a mob movie.
It’s also funny to me that every branch of film production sees themselves as the solely important aspect of production, the lone reason a movie succeeds. They all do it, even when they acknowledge that film is a collaborative art, which Evans does in the same breath as he claims producers are the real ones responsible for movies.
(Side note, it seems the audiobook version was abridged without disclosing that, because it seems like swaths of information are left out and the runtime of the audiobook doesn’t line up with the page count of the actual book).
Robert Evans does a terrible Jack Nicholson impression. Other than that, my big takeaway is that behind the scenes studio deals feel like something out of a mob movie.
It’s also funny to me that every branch of film production sees themselves as the solely important aspect of production, the lone reason a movie succeeds. They all do it, even when they acknowledge that film is a collaborative art, which Evans does in the same breath as he claims producers are the real ones responsible for movies.
(Side note, it seems the audiobook version was abridged without disclosing that, because it seems like swaths of information are left out and the runtime of the audiobook doesn’t line up with the page count of the actual book).
It’s kinda hard to distill biography into slick and polish narrative. It’s even harder to do it to your own “story”.
But this is all gas, no brakes, stay for one drink, and you’re outta there.
The growth rate of the movie industry is fascinating to me and this bio feels like another touchstone earmarking the business at an inflection point where competition was at its literal peak and risks needed to be made in order to save studios.
Evans is a gracious steward for the industry that seemingly burned him, and if he has any blind spots it’s in not understanding that his successes were in giving audiences what they didn’t know what they wanted, so his failures died on the same merit- sometimes you’re just wrong.
But hot damn what a run. I relish the day when any industry (especially film) can feel this small and dangerous again.
But this is all gas, no brakes, stay for one drink, and you’re outta there.
The growth rate of the movie industry is fascinating to me and this bio feels like another touchstone earmarking the business at an inflection point where competition was at its literal peak and risks needed to be made in order to save studios.
Evans is a gracious steward for the industry that seemingly burned him, and if he has any blind spots it’s in not understanding that his successes were in giving audiences what they didn’t know what they wanted, so his failures died on the same merit- sometimes you’re just wrong.
But hot damn what a run. I relish the day when any industry (especially film) can feel this small and dangerous again.
dark
funny
informative
reflective
fast-paced
funny
informative
tense
medium-paced
You have to be interested in Hollywood from the 1970s, and braced for casual misogyny. I found it a fun an interesting listen (Robert Evans reads the audio book) about a legendary producer with leading man looks who would have LOVED to wield a iPhone.
medium-paced