Sure enough about ten minutes later, there is an earthquake within the universe of The Last Tycoon and we realise the film is poking fun at itself. An individual answers a question on how difficult it must be to shoot an earthquake scene and they laugh, replying that shaking the camera usually works and insulting the idea as a cheap effect. But the concentration on a genuine romance between two characters in the story we're watching is clearly trying to come across as serious and thus being self-aware of its own compositions is an idea the film fails to get across.īut before this romantic distraction gets involved, the film begins in a light-hearted but intriguing style. It would be easy to argue that these objective and obvious set ups revolving around a gaze of some sort are deliberate given the film is about film-making and that very early on there is a scene involving a man and woman shooting a romantic scene of some sort. This is twinned with several close ups of De Niro's facial expressions in which the lust and desire is very much apparent. Ingrid Boulting is shot in an extremely objective manner with lots of brightly lit shots and compositions that reveal enough of her body at particularly nicely timed incidences in the film. Is it a romance? Probably, but is it a good romance? Not really. There is a definite study going on here with some substance in the sense it is about Stahr and his struggles with his current life and his love for newly acquired girlfriend Kathleen Moore (Boulting) but nothing much else. Along with this and like I said in the opening paragraph, the film does not poke fun at and nor does it reference enough the industry in which it's set so it doesn't feel particularly clever, something Singin' in the Rain and The Player were because they did it very well and to good comic effect. The primary problem here is the film is not involving enough to warrant it an interesting or touching love story and the dedication to the focus of a man slowly getting more and more overwhelmed is undercooked both are there and done reasonably well but both feel anti-climatic. The film adopts an approach that makes it come across as more of a love story than anything else, but there is a sub-narrative involved that revolves around De Niro's character of Monroe Stahr gradually getting more and more confused with his life and things around him. So it's sort of a shame as well as a surprise that The Last Tycoon does not hit as many spots as I thought it might with it ending up as a slow burning but ultimately unrewarding experience. Additionaly,the more contemporary The Player brought to our attention the trials and tribulations of a Hollywood film producer as he struggles to balance everything at once, complete with disgruntled rejected writers. Singin' in the Rain poked fun at the coming of sound and outlined the difficulties it brought to the industry amongst a love story and a few other things. Reviewed by johnnyboyz 6 / 10 Although there are flashes of goodness, The Last Tycoon falls short of being anything rich.įilms about the film industry tend to be self-mocking at the best of times. Mayer himself, the legendary co-founder of MGM. The character of Pat Brady is based on Louis B. The character of Monroe Stahr is based on Irving Thalberg, the production chief at the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) film studio during the late 1920's and 1930's. Scott Fitzgerald's last novel The Last Tycoon that was never finished. Due to all the pressure, Stahr's health starts failing as well. Pat becomes furious over this as well as Stahr's other misbehavings and makes it his mission to take Stahr down. However, in his hubris, Stahr crosses one red line too many when he falls for a young troubled engaged woman called Kathleen Moore and neglects Cecilia Brady, the young daughter of studio executive and Stahr's boss, Pat Brady. His main opponent becomes a union organizer, Brimmer, but Stahr finds ways to deal with him as well. The times are changing however, since the first guilds and unions are being formed in Hollywood, but Stahr is still sticking to his old ways of doing things in spite of that. The latest film he's working on stars two popular actors, Rodriguez and Didi, and everyone is sure it'll be a smashing hit when it's done. Young film producer, Monroe Stahr, is a rising star in 1930's Hollywood due to his ability to get anything he envisions done even if it means breaking a few rules.
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