The Kid Stays in the Picture

Ex-wunderkind Robert Evans continues the love letter to himself he started in his 1994 memoir by narrating this documentary adaptation in a hardboiled, purple prose-style reminiscent of Hollywood tough guys of the 1940s. Glossing over many aspects of Evans's life (not least the years prior to his “discovery” by Darryl F. Zanuck in 1956), the film covers his mercifully short stint as a would-be actor, his extraordinary tenure as head of production at the nearly moribund Paramount Pictures, his variable success as a producer, his implication in a cocaine bust and a lurid murder case, and his rise from the ashes with a little help from friends like Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. The Kid Stays in the Picture is slick and amusing, but also self-serving and ultimately rather shallow--its pizzazz more characteristic of celebrity cable TV than serious non-fiction film. Still, this will certainly prove morbidly fascinating to movie buffs, and it closes with an improvised impersonation of Evans by the young Dustin Hoffman that's as hilarious as the egomaniacal producer he played in Wag the Dog. Recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary by filmmakers Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen, “The Truth According to Bob” section (with the eight-minute featurette “The Film That Saved Paramount” with Evans in 1971 promoting Love Story and The Godfather, among other films, and the four-segment “The Kid Speaks”--running one to 15 minutes each--on Evans' awards, recent wedding, and interviews), “The Truth According to Others” section (with a one-minute segment “Showgirls on Evans” from The David Susskind Show, a nine-minute “Evans Gag Reel”--with  Dustin Hoffman's priceless impersonation--and “On the Red Carpet” interview segments with praise from folks including Evans' son Josh, Larry King, Leeza Gibbons, Matthew McConaughey, Brett Ratner, and Richard D. Zanuck), and filmographies for Evans. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a solid doc.] (F. Swietek)