Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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3.0 out of 5 stars
More of a soap-opera than a cautionary tale, 27 Aug 1998
By A Customer
I don't think that I expected to learn a lot about breaking into the film business when I read this book, but I was shocked at how little sense of the industry many of the subjects seemed to have. It's at once frightening and reassuring to realize that even the "best-of-the-best" are just as scared and clueless (and dumb) as everyone else. What Frolick does offer, though, is an enjoyable expose of the lives of some really disturbed people. Also, when the subjects succeed or fail, you're in on the process and you can see very clearly what they've done right or wrong. I finished the book actually feeling better about my chances of "making it", so it can't be seen as a cautionary tale, but it did manage to provide some insight and was definitely a fun, enjoyable read.
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2.0 out of 5 stars
A very uninformative melange of first-person ramblings., 18 May 1998
By A Customer
As a soon-to-be film school graduate, I approached Frolick's book with an extreme interest. I have found that film school does little to prepare one for actually getting a job. I was not expecting a how-to guide but I definitely expected a bit more in the way of insight. I felt Frolick's style of allowing the subjects to ramble on mercilessly did little other than spotlight their self-absorption. I found myself questioning the intelligence and thoughtfullness of the subjects, not the harshness of the system.Additionally, I felt Frolick treated his subjects with a mixture of curiosity and disdain. His description of film students in the introduction illustrates his opinion of film school students as short-sighted and self-involved. His editing of interviews seems to highlight the bad tendencies of each subject instead of treating them objectively. The end result leaves the reader wondering what he's learned in addition to be shocked at how little the subjects seem to have learned.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Another message from the author, 17 Dec 1997
By A Customer
Of course I rate the book a 10--I wrote it. Don't trust me,though--but please don't trust the Kirkus review Amazon carries--it is not representative, as anyone with access to archives of US magazine, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, LIBRARY JOURNAL, the L.A. DAILY NEWS, etc. can confirm. Kirkus accuses me of not following a cardinal rule of screenwriting, to "create memorable characters" --but this is JOURNALISM, not SCREENWRITING! They also criticize that only one of my subjects made a feature film made in three years. But anyone with a smidgeon of knowledge or experience with the movie business would say it's a miracle that any of them got a movie made--and a real one, not one of those $13,000 homemade jobs about neurotic, pop-culture-obsessed twenty-something suburban hit men. Sorry to sound defensive--but when I read Kirkus' review I just assumed that the kid I tortured in summer camp 30 years ago had grown up to become a book critic. I've gotten incredible e-mail from filmmakers and students all over the world about the book. Also, Andrew Sarris, Steven Soderbergh and Leonard Maltin--all approached cold, I didn't know any of them--have contributed review blurbs (on the book's front and back covers). So don't believe what you read--except, of course, for my book.
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