Customer Reviews

Dominick Dunne: After the Party

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4 star:		(1)
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2 star:		(1)
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This is a wonderful film for the inside view of a golden age of media and fame. Dunne said at the Borders Book Store event in NYC that he was not particularly disoriented by being around so very many very famous people, but he acknowledges, and this DVD shows, the talent and appeal of his friends. Today, celebrity seems manufactured. Then, stardom seemed real. The Platinum Pick in USA today read (in part): "A full life gets the documentary it deserves." I'll go with that!

This was released shortly before Dominick Dunne died of cancer in the summer of 2009. Dunne goes over his private life and professional life in great detail. His greatest strength and weakness was that he was utterly beguiled by the rich and famous. He made his entire career out of them. He began as a film producer but bottomed out in that profession. In his his 50s, he reinvented himself as a novelist. I've read some of his books. They are fun but I don't think his novels will be long remembered. Where he really came into his own was with his own daughter's murder, which transformed him into a true crime writer. This was Dunne's true calling and I became a huge fan from that point until his death. He was unapologetic about being on the side of the victim's family, influenced by his daughter's murder. He is best known for his coverage of the O.J. murder trial but he covered every high profile rich and famous case for decades. The last case he covered was Phil Spector's. Dunne's accounts were run in VANITY FAIR monthly. The only time he was off the mark was with Gary Gondit. Dunne admits he was totally "had" by a source who told him some far out stories about Condit and Chandra levy's murder. Dunne repeated this info on air, a defamation lawsuit followed and Dunne ended up paying damages in settlement of the case to Condit.

Watch this documentary to experience him as a character and then read his true crime book compilations. He does a brilliant job of reporting these high profile murders. You can't put them down.

Dunne was also related to some high profile others in the arts. His late daughter Dominique was a rising actress. His son Griffin is an established actor and producer. His brother was the novelist John Gregory Dunne. His sister-in-law is Joan Didion.

If you like Dominick Dunne, you will enjoy this DVD about his interesting life. He is quite frank about his failings, both professional and personal, and he speaks candidly about life as he sees it. He was quite a writer and quite a personality.

Dominick Dunne never struck me as a person about whom I wanted to know more. But when I saw that the documentary After the Party had great reviews, I gave it a chance. I'm glad I watched. Dunne had a fascinating life and he laid himself bare in this documentary.

Like most people, I know Dunne from his later years as a writer for Vanity Fair and as a commentator on Court TV. Dunne was born into a wealthy Connecticut family, but father hated him and considered him to be a sissy. Dominick proved him wrong, however, by winning a bronze star in World War II for rescuing wounded comrades. After the war, he married and fathered five children. The Dunne family eventually moved to Hollywood, where they rubbed shoulders with the stars, and Dominick became a respected producer.

But all was not well. Eventually, Dunne's wife left him, he fell into drug abuse, and his Hollywood career crashed. When Dunne was 50 he decided that he would become a writer - improbably, he pulled it off.

Dunne's honesty makes After the Party much more than the standard biography. He admits that he was a social climber who caused the collapse of his marriage. He admits to many other transgressions as well. Dunne might not have clearly seen himself in all instances, but I think that he was as honest as he could be.

There is a sadness to this film, as well. Dunne admits that he has been celibate for years and that he has no one in his life. He also says that he will keep working "right to the end." Viewers emerge with a sense that - even though Dunne had grown a lot during his life - he was still searching.

Dunne was much more than a celebrity gossip columnist. Viewers who are interested in celebrity - and the toll it takes - should watch After the Party.

Dominick Dunne-level scrutiny should have been accorded to Dominick Dunne. This study is just a series of interviews with Dominick Dunne who is a consummate fiction writer and poseur.

Sure, there is a little bit of "dirt" provided by his estranged son the film guy Griffin Dunne, and by Joan Didion, his sister in law.

However, they were just little sound bites. There is no real analysis. There is not even real interest in getting at the truth of this carefully composed, self-conscious artiste. It's mostly common knowledge that's presented, what anyone who read his Vanity Fair columns would know. Nothing is added by this program.

It's a tv movie quality bio pic. It could have been so much more. The true story has not yet been told.