Customer Reviews

Johnny Depp: A Kind of Illusion

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

 

 

I'm not really sure why a writer would make the decision to write a book on someone whose films he didn't particularly care for. It starts off quite well with an interesting look at Depp's family history but then takes a downward turn. Each film Johnny has appeared in since the start of his career is criticized one at a time (except for perhaps Blow in which the author manages to scrounge up a positive thought or two-WOW). Not to mention that there are glaring typos and random errors that any well versed Depp fan/historian would pick up in a heartbeat (The Arizona Dream 12 minute wedding sequence was not Paul's, it was Axel's for goodness sake!)

And what is this illusion that the author speaks of? Why, it's the idea that perhaps Depp and his agent Tracey Jacobs have managed to fool us all by marketing his personality in order to make him who he is today. Funny, and here I thought his success might have something to do with his gift for transforming into the various characters he has played over the years. But what do I know. I'm just a brainless fan. And this book is definitely not fan friendly.

In conclusion, this book is more suitable for someone who wishes to learn the "fine art" of becoming a film critic. I'm sorry I didn't know all this beforehand.

I agree with everything Mazzy D said.
This one did start out as a pretty straightforward bio, but as I went along, and it focused on his films and his romances, there came the revelation that this author did not want you to like Johnny Depp, and it's full of misquotes and rumor.
He seems to go out of his way to find the most unflattering reviews and he seems to be bringing down almost all of the films and everyone involved in them (in particular poor Tim Burton)!
Occassionally he'll put a positve comment in there for good measure, but Denis Meikle is a verbose, sef-absorbed charletan.
beware:
There's money to be made for anyone and everyone to write rubbish and ride along the crest of Johnny's tidal wave of current success.
I'm glad I did not purchase this book!

What a waste of my money! As others have stated, the somewhat detailed "history" of Johnny's family is interesting. However, once the reader gets to his films, it's basically a criticism of Johnny and every film he has done. This is just another author making money from Johnny Depp's name under the guise of being an expert on the actor. A much better read is Johnny Depp by Christopher Heard. This is an author who actually "gets" Johnny Depp and provides more details about his life/movies that are accurate and not opinionated like Meikle.

This biography was interesting but it was more about the history of Johnny's movies than about the great actor himself. The author goes into great detail about the directors and the screen plays so much so I found it at times to be confusing. He made some errors in his facts. The worst was the telling of the last scene of the POTC where he left out one of the best lines in the movie.

This is the kind of biography you get when a film critic writes it. The amount of Johnny Depp information could fill one chapter with the rest of the book being one loooong review of his movies and movies that affected him. If you are a fan of the movie genre, this book might fit BUT if you are a fan of Johnny Depp; - stay clear!!

Nicely detailed account starting with Johnny's parents and other family members also a nice set of photos.

I really enjoyed this book. It is informative without being boring! Johnny is fantastic and great reading.

Great book on Johnny Depp a must for any true fan.

Amazing book with great descriptions of Johnnys works. Much better than the other books on Depp that seem to just gather stuff already put out in articles and journals/news. Some of the points of views of Johnnys movies are a bit upsetting and on the negative side, but all in all a great book to get to know the wonderful world of Depp.