Wow. I don't know if I've ever been as disappointed with a film as I was with this one. Maybe it was a bad idea for Hollywood to try and finish something Fitzgerald did not, but I'll leave that to the literary buffs.
Fitzgerald aside, what is presented in The Last Tycoon is what I consider to be a brilliant portrayal of Irving Thalberg by Robert De Niro. I've always thought, based on what I've read about Thalberg and the Studio System of the 30s/40s, that he was a remarkable and fascinating individual. I had a picture painted in my mind as to how I thought Thalberg "looked", acted, and generally carried himself as he patrolled the MGM lots. In my opinion, De Niro nailed it. He played him EXACTLY as I had pictured him. From this perspective, I was enthralled by the film for about a half hour.
Then, I guess the Fitzgerald element had to come in. Stahr, De Niro's character, becomes obsessed with a girl he sees on the lot that sort of kind of reminds him of someone he may or may not have had some sort of relationship with, it's not really clear. It doesn't matter anyway, because the story REEKS. As a self proclaimed film buff, I hate to express myself so simple mindedly, but there it is.
I'm not going to dwell on the stench of the love story of this film. It's bad, and badly done. It's one of those films (The original Getaway is another) where I sit there watching particular scenes and wonder what the hell was going through the screenwriter's mind when he wrote it. Particularly the entire character of Cecilia, played by Jeanne Moreau.
I just can't help but lament over what could have been. Irving Thalberg was a fascinating individual and there are countless stories that could be written about him for the silver screen. Why did they have to take this route? They had the dollars in production to recreate the Hollywood of the 30s, a couple of screen legends (Curtis and Mitchum) and most importantly, Thalberg reincarnated in De Niro. And they flat out blew it.
It's just too bad Thalberg wasn't around to screen this before it was released.
Fitzgerald aside, what is presented in The Last Tycoon is what I consider to be a brilliant portrayal of Irving Thalberg by Robert De Niro. I've always thought, based on what I've read about Thalberg and the Studio System of the 30s/40s, that he was a remarkable and fascinating individual. I had a picture painted in my mind as to how I thought Thalberg "looked", acted, and generally carried himself as he patrolled the MGM lots. In my opinion, De Niro nailed it. He played him EXACTLY as I had pictured him. From this perspective, I was enthralled by the film for about a half hour.
Then, I guess the Fitzgerald element had to come in. Stahr, De Niro's character, becomes obsessed with a girl he sees on the lot that sort of kind of reminds him of someone he may or may not have had some sort of relationship with, it's not really clear. It doesn't matter anyway, because the story REEKS. As a self proclaimed film buff, I hate to express myself so simple mindedly, but there it is.
I'm not going to dwell on the stench of the love story of this film. It's bad, and badly done. It's one of those films (The original Getaway is another) where I sit there watching particular scenes and wonder what the hell was going through the screenwriter's mind when he wrote it. Particularly the entire character of Cecilia, played by Jeanne Moreau.
I just can't help but lament over what could have been. Irving Thalberg was a fascinating individual and there are countless stories that could be written about him for the silver screen. Why did they have to take this route? They had the dollars in production to recreate the Hollywood of the 30s, a couple of screen legends (Curtis and Mitchum) and most importantly, Thalberg reincarnated in De Niro. And they flat out blew it.
It's just too bad Thalberg wasn't around to screen this before it was released.