Hey folks, Harry here with another great report from Cannes from NoZeanderthal logging in the debut of legendary film producer, Robert Evans' documentary about his bizarre and amazing life. CHINATOWN... GODFATHER... I'm dying to see this documentary. This has got to be a trip....
K. Tonight I was able to be in the presence of one of the greats. One of those Hollywood legends. Robert Evans. I was lucky enough to see the film about his life, The Kid Stays in the Picture. Let me tell you why this is special.
Its not a documentary, as Evans is insistant about. The film makers took the audio from the book on tape version of Evan's autobiography and used this to narrate the entire film. The footage is past news reels, films, and animated photographs. Surprisingly, this does not get old. In fact, it adds a mood to the film that is intergral to the telling of Evans life.
it chronicles his rise to power from a self described bad actor to the king of the Paramount mountain. Nothing is left hidden from the camera. his coke addiction. the murder scandal. his failed marrage. escaping from a mental instituion. fight after fight with coppola. and his enduring friendship with Jack Nicholson. It is a moving picture that frankly is entertaning and dare i say it educational as well.
some of the best and most haunting footage is actually from evans beautiful woodland home in beverly hills. a truly beautiful house.
Evans was actually in attendance. He opened the film with a very moving thank you to everyone involved and closed it by crying through a long standing ovation. the crowd loved the film and it was obvious the emotion that had been put into it.
the best part is the ending. as the credits roll, there is a joke reel shot with dustin hoffman from 1976. it is hoffman pretending to be evans in 1996. hauntingly, hoffman hits on evans eventual downfall and almost attempted suicide. on a lighter note, he jokes about evans discovering his own vagina and his wifes "beautiful cock" and his surprise at giving birth earlier in the day. very funny, especially coming from hoffman.
once again, the film is great. i dont know how widely this will be distributed, but if yuo get a chance to see it, do. Its different, moving, innovative, and probably mostly true. if you love movies, are in the business, or just plain enjoy a good story...see this film.
on a side note, nicholson was supposed to be in attendance, but did not show up. it might be noted taht nicholson flew across the country to beg a french realtor to sell evans his house back to him. to this day, evans has the note jack wrote to him following this framed on his dresser. its unfortunate he could not be there.
i am NoZeanderthal. And Im out.
