ACTION!

THE LAST TYCOON meets “Dynasty.” This is a true insider version of Hollywood, told in the form of a family saga. Cort absolutely knows the territory; he uses so many real people (Ray Stark, David O. Selznick, Steve McQueen, Bob Evans, Charles Bludhorn) playing his version of themselves that the backdrop is intensely realistic; the foreground, a three-generation soap opera in which every character, including Grandma and Baby Sister, lusts for power, fame, money, or revenge, gives you quite the family portrait. Maybe Cort intends this to be ignoring the First Commandment: The Movie. Like any appalling story of how people really behave, it’s fascinating, and Grover Gardner gives it all the gravitas good acting can. B.G. © AudioFile 2004, Portland, Maine [Published: FEB/ MAR 04]