THE KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE (2002)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia
Original Review from 2003
Robert Evans is a man whose incredible experience in Hollywood is worth listening to. He is the producer of quality film classics like "The Godfather" films, "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby." He also produced the quintessentially sappy love story known, plainly enough, as "Love Story." Evans also had his own downward slide with drivel like "Sliver" and the disastrously expensive production of "The
Cotton Club." With such a list of hits and misses, I was expecting a glorious and sardonic look at a producer who was as much a gambler as anyone else had any right to be (anyone who is the subject of an animated cartoon can't be all bad). But the documentary "The Kid Stays in the Picture" glosses over so many details of such a rich, animated life that I found I knew less about Evans than I had before.
Cotton Club." With such a list of hits and misses, I was expecting a glorious and sardonic look at a producer who was as much a gambler as anyone else had any right to be (anyone who is the subject of an animated cartoon can't be all bad). But the documentary "The Kid Stays in the Picture" glosses over so many details of such a rich, animated life that I found I knew less about Evans than I had before.
The film is told in chronological order as it spins tales of Evans and his days as an actor in the Hollywood industry. We discover that the film's title originates with legendary producer Darryl Zanuck, who supported the actor's performance as a bullfighter in an adaptation of Ernest Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises." Most of the cast of that film, including Eddie Albert, object to Evans but Zanuck came to the Mexican locations and said with tantalizing clarity, "The kid stays in the picture." After that film, Evans saw no promise in the acting zone, considering he was vilified for a film called "The Fiend
Who Walked the West." Inspired by Zanuck's own hardnosed style, Evans saw a future as a producer for Paramount Pictures and begat a string of hits unparalleled in most others of his ilk. One of the best stories involves Francis Ford Coppola's dubious talent on the set of "The Godfather" - Evans
smelled a disaster in dailies and asked Coppola if the meat of the film was sitting in his kitchen. Also noteworthy is Evans' support of Roman Polanski during the making of "Rosemary's Baby" - if Polanski was fired, then Evans would walk. There is also the story of Evans' own marriage to his "Love Story"
leading lady, Ali McGraw, and how their commitment was destroyed by her love for Steve McQueen, who co-starred with her in "The Getaway."
Who Walked the West." Inspired by Zanuck's own hardnosed style, Evans saw a future as a producer for Paramount Pictures and begat a string of hits unparalleled in most others of his ilk. One of the best stories involves Francis Ford Coppola's dubious talent on the set of "The Godfather" - Evans
smelled a disaster in dailies and asked Coppola if the meat of the film was sitting in his kitchen. Also noteworthy is Evans' support of Roman Polanski during the making of "Rosemary's Baby" - if Polanski was fired, then Evans would walk. There is also the story of Evans' own marriage to his "Love Story"
leading lady, Ali McGraw, and how their commitment was destroyed by her love for Steve McQueen, who co-starred with her in "The Getaway."
The film's second half deals with Evans' darker days during the 1980's, involving murder and financial and legal setbacks. His handling of the costly overruns on Coppola's "The Cotton Club" resulted in legal action, leading nowhere. The film was a bloated disaster with no idea of what kind of film it
wanted to be. The same film produced the murder of someone who helped finance it - Evans' name was linked though he was never charged with anything. And then there was the onslaught of drugs and near-suicide attempts before deciding to be admitted to a mental hospital. Evans lost his extravagant home and his job. How he gets back into the swing of things is often sad and illuminating (particularly convincing Nicholson to get his home back from a French millionaire).
Unfortunately, as clever as the editing is (the still photos seem to come alive three-dimensionally), "The Kid Stays in the Picture" never fully understands the man in question. Robert Evans himself narrates his life story and, though I understand he suffered a recent stroke, he often seems to be mumbling his way
through the film. I like how he mimics the different characters' he has encountered in his life, but I felt there wasn't much here to involve or engage me. Evans seems disinterested in his own life, perhaps having lived through it and having told it countless times. A different narrator would have been nice.
And since Evans is telling his side of the story, it would have been worthwhile if he had criticized it - mentioning "Love Story" in the same breath with "The Godfather" seems criminal. Interviews or voice-overs (even mimicked ones) with Coppola and Mia Farrow might have offered some real insight.
"The Kid Stays in the Picture" is draggy and inert, often mimicking the way Evans delivers his narration. Such a juicy, extravagant life deserves a shot of adrenaline.
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