Customer Reviews

The Cutting Room

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

When a fellow movie trivia buff tells Roy Milano he's found the holy grail of film--the original director's cut of Orson Welles's Magnificent Ambersons, Roy can hardly wait to see the screening. But when he arrives at his friends house, he finds the movie gone and his friend murdered. Now Roy sets out on a mission--to find the movie and see it for himself. If he can help find the actual killer, so much the better. Working his way through the slightly weird clan of fellow trivia buffs, and soon joined by one of the rare attractive females in the group, Roy heads to Hollywood, Spain, and Boston in search of the elusive movie.

It doesn't take Roy long to realize that he's onto something major. He seems to run into fists at least as often as clues, but he also finds people who think he knows more than he does--and who are willing to give him money to help them find what they want. Because outside of the narrow world of old-film cultists, the Magnificent Ambersons is simply another ancient flick. Roy's single-minded obsession nearly gets him killed--which makes him better off than most of the people he comes in contact with. Eventually Roy tracks down the movie, but having it only increases the danger.

Author Laurence Klavan dishes up an over-the-top adventure with an unlikely trivia-nerd hero who, nevertheless, manages to be sympathetic and even get his share of the girls. Fast-paced action, badly flawed characters, and America's obsession with the movie industry provide plenty of reader interest. Klavan's high-quality writing held my interest and kept me turning the pages--I read the entire book in one sitting. The twist at the end worked for me--adding to the emotional impact of a fine novel.

Reading is a compulsory activity for some of us. I'm addicted; I almost always have to be reading something --- whether I'm listening to music, watching television, eating, waiting, talking on the telephone or, ah, driving. Not a good idea I know. I'm trying to cut back, but it's tough. As with a great many compulsions, reading started out being fun --- in my case, Dick Tracy comic books at the local drugstore --- and has taken on a life of its own. It's still fun and enjoyable, of course, but those elements take an almost secondary role, and it's tough getting started on a 12-step program with reading when your higher power is Random House. Once in a while, however, you pick up a book that reminds you that reading is supposed to be FUN. And that brings us to THE CUTTING ROOM by Laurence Klavan.

This is an almost noir mystery that doesn't take itself too seriously. It revolves around Roy Milano, a New York City film aficionado who is a self-styled expert in all things celluloid. Milano finds himself unexpectedly drawn into danger and intrigue when he is invited by Alan Gilbert, an acquaintance and rival, to witness a private screening of a legendary, long lost film: the complete, unreleased print of Orson Welles's The Magnificent Ambersons. Milano arrives at Gilbert's apartment only to find his erstwhile host dead and the film gone. Milano's compulsion --- compulsions really make the world go round, don't they? --- leads him on a wild chase across the country to Los Angeles, then halfway around the world to Barcelona and back again, all in pursuit of a film whose existence is at best apocryphal.

Milano introduces fellow film buffs along the way, broadly drawn eccentrics, and you will recognize at least one of them within your own circle of friends. He also unexpectedly encounters the granddaughter of the great man himself, a beautiful lady with secrets of her own. Toss in a couple of surprise allies, some unexpected enemies and a whole bunch of sedate but interesting plot twists, and you have a print version of one of those madcap ensemble movies from the 1960s, kind of a print version of It's A Mad Mad Mad Mad World.

The best part of the book, however, is Milano's penchant for dropping bits of film trivia here, there and everywhere throughout his narrative, usually appropriately, occasionally not, but always entertainingly. You're almost guaranteed to learn something. I never knew why Mr. Briggs was replaced by Mr. Phelps in the television version of Mission: Impossible until I read this book. More knowledge, imminently useful or not, waits within.

Klavan has a winner with THE CUTTING ROOM and with Milano. Klavan's background in film and theater runs deep, which gives this fine novel and its characters that ring of authenticity that cannot be artificially manufactured. Most of all, however, THE CUTTING ROOM is fun to read. And --- great news --- Milano will be back. I hope he brings more film trivia with him.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

There is a whole culture of "Trivial People," men and women who are linked by a common interest in movie arcana. There purpose, other than to socialize, is to find lost films or series that are missing from movies that were produced and shown to the public. The most valuable prize a trivial person can find is the long lost version of the original The Magnificent Ambersons the one that the studio cut whole scenes out of while Orson Welles was in South America.

Roy Milano, one of the trivial people and proud of it, gets a phone call from Alan Gilbert who tells him he has the film and is willing to show it to him. When he gets to Alan's apartment, he is dead and the film is missing. A movie radio host has a tip that a famous movie star has the film and is going to star in the remake. Roy follows the trail of the missing film that takes him from Hollywood to Spain, back to L.A. and onto Boston where he becomes entangled in a politician's deadly web.

Laurence Klavan has such a unique voice that if readers were given a manuscript without the author's name, they will recognize it was written by him. In pursuit of a film, the protagonist finds some himself in some hair-raising situations but even the danger does not deter him from trying to get the one object that will make him the envy of trivial people everywhere. THE CUTTING ROOM is witty and irreverent yet also pays homage to the golden age of movies.

Harriet Klausner

This breezy thriller has all the ingredients to be a surefire success: a Hitchcockian everyman thrust into the role of detective, a beautiful foreign lass, a host of colorful supporting characters, a rapid-fire globetrotting pace that moves between New York, Hollywood, and Barcelona, and, of course, the MacGuffin. Which is not to suggest that this is a wonderful book. Rather, it is a good beach or airplane book, the perfect witty read for movie buffs who want to sit back and be entertained in print. Set in the world of film trivia mavens, the story concerns the search for a legendary unseen complete print of Orson Welles' film The Magnificent Ambersons. Roy is a movie nerd in his later 30s who is caught up in some very deadly business, as the story wends its way from the computer strewn bedroom of am internet rumormonger (a thinly veiled Harry Knowles of Ain't It Cool News fame) to the Hollywood Hills trysting pad of an action movie star (a thinly veiled Bruce Willis clone), and into the beds of several women. It's all put together in a very snappy, pulpy style, right down to the socks in the jaw, and the double-crossing dames. Just like a decent movie, the book will keep you cheerfully diverted for two hours and then fade quickly from memory.

The highest compliment that I can pay "The Cutting Room" is my gut sense that Orson Welles would probably have relished filming it! And what a vehicle it could make for Woody Allen! However, in its present form, mystery readers and film buffs alike should rejoice that Edgar-winning author Laurence Klavan has chosen to make his hardcover debut with this wonderfully off-the-wall thriller that so faithfully echoes the cinematic characters and devices its ingenious plot celebrates. What's especially intriguing is that he has created such a likeable anti-hero in Roy Milano that we're...or, at least, I certainly was...perfectly willing to make his priorities our own. In a nutshell, Roy is obsessed with the movies. Ever since his wife left him for refusing to abandon his reel world in favor of her more down-to-earth one, he has happily immersed himself in the counter-culture of movie trivia addicts, a culture that is preoccupied not only with what was, but with what might have been. Long-lost, missing footage from Welles' post "Kane" masterpiece, "The Magnificent Ambersons", is "...the stuff that dreams are made of..." for such devoutees. When Roy receives a call from obnoxious Alan Gilbert, self-subsidized TV film maven, announcing that he has a copy of the uncut version, Roy races over to Alan's studio only to arrive too late: Alan has a knife in his heart; the movie has disappeared; sinister Gus Ziegler has been seen leaving the premises, and the chase is on. At this point, the plot not only thickens, it metamorphosizes into something quite rare and very strange indeed. In the best tradition of noir gumshoes, Roy and his 'trivial friend' Jeanine trail Ziegler to Hollywood. There they encounter Schwarzenegger-type megastar, Ben Williams, who (in a true Tinker to Evers to Chance progression) acquired the film from Gus...planning a remake to Roy's horror and dismay...just long enough for his exotic new girlfriend, Erendira, to decamp with it heading for her native Spain. Ben sends Roy haring after her, and once they connect, the explosive real story behind the film's survival emerges. The fat lady doesn't sing until all the missing pieces finally come together in a chilling yet bittersweet finale at the Rhinebeck Film Fair in the wilds of upstate New York. To say any more would be to spoil the enormous pleasure that can be found in watching Roy...faithfully following in his celluloid idols' footsteps...putting paid to assorted villains and giving virtue its due reward.

It's subtly and beautifully done, but...direct references aside...every page of this completely engrossing read reminded me of the great films of the past. Only a tru-fan could have devised this superb caper, and while I've yet to find the McGuffin, I have my suspicions and am planning a more leisurely reread of "The Cutting Room" soon for the sheer fun of savoring all of its cinematic nuances and looking for it.

You can't beat this thing for sheer entertainment. I won't recap the plot or cast the movie (except to offer Jack Black as the hero, NOT Ben Stiller) and say only that if you like guys like Donald Westlake, you'll laugh all the way through Cutting Room. Klavan's book is funny, sharp, smart and spares few overblown egos as it races to its finish. I hope Roy Milano gets employed again, I had a great time following him.

The Cutting room is a surprise a minute, with great twists that kept me turning the pages until the end. The book is an absolute joy and a breath of fresh air. The snappy dialogue, the terrific characters, the fantastic humor made it impossible to put down. In fact, I would not put it down to the point I stayed in my pajamas and bathrobe all day until I finished!
I cannot express the full measure of shear pleasure and fun I had, especially since I am such a devout movie buff and collector of films, who like Roy Milano swims in movie trivia!
Laurence Klavan is a genius! He keeps the reader engaged all the way and then raises the stakes to an even higher level which causes panic in the reader! It is totally gratifying, and a rare find indeed, to discover such a fabulous book that has all the elements; humor, mystery, a great and fast paced story with vivid characters all rolled into one. Laurence Klavan has created a true classic! And I look forward to reading more of his brilliant work.

Joe V.

since i don't like murder mysteries, i am going to give this book a "neutral" review....I'm not putting it down, but i'm not putting it up on a pedestal either.

Perhaps the best praise for a book is that it convinces a reader to buy another by the same author. This is the praise I can give "The Cutting Room," and I am happy to say I'm already off and running with Klavan's sequel "The Shooting Script."

Quite frankly, if you're looking for a good time, you can't really go wrong with "The Cutting Room." It's got a fast-paced plot, an intriguing and witty protagonist, and tons of twists and turns. Also, I had a great time looking at the screen heroes and classic movies depicted both by name and through fictitious representations. I came out of this book with a great big smile on my face-- What a fun author!

(3.5 stars) Roy Milano is one of the "trivial people," those aficionados of movie trivia for whom learning details about every film, actor, or actress becomes not only a hobby but a whole way of life. Newly divorced and living in an untidy apartment, he is the thirty-five-year-old writer of a newsletter, Trivial Man. When a rival, Alan Gilbert, gloats to Milano that he has acquired "something big," Milano goes to Gilbert's apartment, where he finds the door open and Gilbert sitting in his favorite chair with a steak knife in his heart, "killed for Orson Welles." Somehow Gilbert has managed to acquire the missing footage from the original version of Orson Welles's "The Magnificent Ambersons," a find that will stun "trivial people," movie fans, and serious academic film historians alike. Unfortunately, the film is now just as gone as Gilbert, and Milano finds himself fielding questions from the local police.

Moving at breakneck speed, the story of Milano's search for the missing footage and the unknown killers moves from New York to Los Angeles and then on to Barcelona, Los Angeles, Boston, and back to New York. Along the way Milano meets a motley assortment of film-connected characters: a murderous body-builder, a man of a thousand voices, a kleptomaniac producer's assistant, a second-rate producer who plans to remake two of Orson Welles first-rate classics, his hermaphroditic wife, the Spanish soccer team, and even an "art" photographer who photographs operating rooms, post-surgery. Murder piles upon murder, and mayhem upon mayhem as Milano tries to recover the missing "Ambersons" footage and keep himself alive.

Klavan's background in theatre shows in his reliance on "visual effects" to provide both the drama and the humor, rather than on his skill with words or ability to describe or evoke atmosphere. Because the author provides very little actual description as the narrative rockets from location to location, the success of the novel depends upon the reader's own ability to use his/her imagination to visualize the action and "see" the absurdity and irony of situations and their considerable humor. The often clever dialogue is used to move the action forward, instead of developing characters. With the underbelly of the film industry as its setting, its lightning fast action, knock-down-dragouts, and twists and turns galore, this could be a very funny feature film, offering humor, non-stop action, and mystery. With the feel of a screenplay (and Ben Stiller just "made" for Roy Milano), this novel may tempt its readers to play casting director for the principals and the many cameo roles. Mary Whipple