Most Helpful Customer Reviews
62 of 71 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tough and Radical Golden Boy, May 6, 2011
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
When I began reading this pre-publication biography of Robert Redford, I thought I would be learning about a laid-back guy from California who fell into acting via the gift of his good looks combined with perfect timing. Not so. His life totally surprised me. I know he is a conservationist with liberal political leanings, but I was not aware of the layers of this man's ambition and intellect. Brought up without money by a wonderful, supportive mother and a critical father, Redford (Bob) was a rebellious child and teen-ager who was constantly aspiring to find what would make him happy. Michael Feeny Callan organizes fourteen years of interviews with Redford, his friends and associates to disclose the essence of the man. He also had access to Redford's personal journals and diaries which gives the reader both sides of this man. He gives equal credence to the golden boy of Hollywood, his political activism for the environment and founder of the independent film Mecca Sundance, a magnificent tract of land located in Utah. Redford has been obsessed with the wilderness, it has brought him peace, solace and helped him transform the landscape of film making. Redford comes across as a restless egotist. He worked himself beyond fatigue and his stubbornness was uncompromising. He surprised many directors and fellow actors with his demands regarding his characters in movies and plays. What looked so easy for him on stage and film was the product of endless study and overwhelming analysis of the character in the movie or play. It is surprising that Redford is somewhat of a tyrant. He is an autodidact, a self-taught intellectual, who challenges himself and anyone who will not allow him to proceed as he envisions. I am sure not too many fans know that he is an artist, a painter first before an actor. With his unending talent and ambition, his creativity embraced him as young boy to present day. There were facets of Redford that were revelatory; his obstinacy gave rise to an autocratic man in all aspects in his life. On the other side, he has not been credited for shaping such memorable movies as The Candidate and All the President's Men. He is brilliant and does not give in. His ability to tough life through appears to be his credo for parenting. He does not appear to be an overly-sympathetic husband or father. There is little revealed in this book about Lola, a Mormon and his first wife; I felt she was short-changed. I also was rather shocked that neither parent sought to investigate their son's illness from childhood. Labeled irritable bowel syndrome, the parents seemed to "let him work it out." Jamie, instead, looked for all types of cures and later discovered he had ulcerative colitis which had been untreated. Later, Jamie was diagnosed with end-term liver disease with a transplant his only hope for survival. After two transplants, Jamie experienced wellness and has a portfolio of educational and artistic accomplishments. Callan's fourteen years of research and study is evident in this biography. He technically is brilliant as he meshes the chronology of Redford's life with solid interviews and most of all, we hear Redford's voice through his interviews and diaries. Redford's personal and professional relationship with Sydney Pollack serves as a virtual backdrop for the vicissitudes of Redford's life. Callan's writing elevated Redford on an intellectual level, and I recommend the book. Unfortunately, my uncorrected proof did not contain photographs, which certainly would have enhanced my reading!
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
33 of 38 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Elusive Redford --- an American Mystery, May 7, 2011
Customer review from the Amazon Vine™ Program (What's this?)
My wife saw the book on the kitchen counter and summed up the Redford Problem. "Isn't that a book for women?" But the Redford life and film canon are more complex, and his Irish biographer, Michael Feeney Callan, has devoted ten years of his writing life to proving it. Here's the result: a bio of a conflicted, sometimes agonized man in the throes of a two-level career: swoon-worthy matinee idol and golden boy on one hand, deadly serious, reclusive cineaste -- serious to the point of ponderous -- on the other. Callan chronicles Redford's path to becoming the biggest movie star in the world through "Butch Cassidy," "Jeremiah Johnson," "The Way We Were," "The Sting," and misconceived bombs like "Waldo Pepper" and "The Great Gatsby." Redford is immediately uncomfortable with popcorn-movie success and cultivates a second persona through the Sundance Institute and as director of grave and chilly work like "Ordinary People." He is depicted as earnest and professional but terminally indecisive, easily distracted, uncommunicative, and incapable of keeping a schedule -- a hard guy to work with, as Callan himself found out. (We get the impression this book would have been completed years ago if Redford hadn't kept backing out of meetings.) The depiction is detailed and engrossing, but the reasons for all this conflict ultimately elude Callan, and us. By the '80s, aging, Redford can no longer play cute-guy roles but essays popular junk ("Legal Eagles," "Up Close and Personal") in order to subsidize unpopular art ("The Milagro Beanfield War"). His highest-grossing movie ever, apparently, was the supremely junky "Indecent Proposal," and most of his more heartfelt personal projects in the last decade or so must be classified as noble failures. Redford's acting is reassessed kindly here and assigned more power and texture from this latter-day perspective (although it must be said that unlike his generational peers DeNiro, Pacino and Nicholson, alongside whom Redford seems to exist in a separate universe, he rarely if ever allowed himself to look unattractive onscreen). One special joy of the book is its discussion of the dozens of Robert Redford movies that never got made; the indecisive Redford toyed with a "Phantom of the Opera" movie, the "Outbreak" virus movie that Dustin Hoffman eventually did, and -- most poignantly -- planned a reunion with Paul Newman in an adaptation of Bill Bryson's Appalachian Trail book, "A Walk in the Woods," until Newman's death in 2009. Those who imagine screen idols as rich beyond belief will be interested to learn that despite decades of crazy paydays, by 2000 or so Redford was so overextended by Sundance, various mortgages, and other ventures, he was urged to declare bankruptcy. If anything the book may be a little too overstuffed and prone to digression. Callan states he set out to talk to anyone who ever worked with or knew Redford, with fair success. (Some of his best interviews, like Sydney Pollack and Newman, died during the book's long gestation term.) Redford's instinct was to cooperate with Callan and instruct his friends to do so, and it's a good one; Callan is exhaustive and fair. His book does not ultimately explain Redford's discomfort with the film business and himself, but it scrapes off the pretty-boy label well enough. It will go a long way to repositioning him as a major artist and cultural figure like DeNiro, Pacino, Nicholson, and the top American actors of his generation.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Powerful Biography of Unique Detached Star Who Did It HIS WAY - FIVE STARS !!!!, May 22, 2011
I have found stars interesting my entire life. They are different from the rest of us, and we never really get to know them because we only see what is exposed to the rest of us. Their human element is never displayed except when they have issues with the law, or divorce, or just outrageously bad behavior. Robert Redford has managed to go an entire lifetime without having to sacrifice himself or his individuality to the fame system that is indigenous to anyone who is part of Hollywood, let alone a member of the A-List. All actors are by definition what I call strays. I manage money for a living for very famous people as well as governments and finance ministers. Actors are simply people who must act. They really have no other choice. They are compelled to do what they do, and in what they do there is tremendous distress for they do not know where their next job is coming from, or if one is coming at all. This is the world that Redford has occupied and exulted in for probably 50 plus years. What is unique is that he has managed to maintain an aloofness from Hollywood which is unheard of for a star of his magnitude. He embraces Hollywood when he must and then just as rapidly detaches himself once again, being one of those few actors who can maintain his own center in the face of such fame, and adulation. I have been waiting more than 20 years for someone to do a fabulous biography of this screen legend and I for one believe that author Michael Callan has successfully pierced the veil that Redford has maintained all these years. We see the man, the heart, we feel the passion and in doing this Callan has done us the reader and Redford a great service. Yes there are things that the actor will still not talk about in detail, but after scores of interviews with him, Callan I believe has taken out the essence of the man and revealed him to us both good and bad. I have always believed that no matter how famous the man or woman, there is always somebody behind that person who acted as a mentor. In the case of Redford, renowned director Sidney Pollack was that person who guided him throughout an extraordinary career. Pollack even directed Redford in several movies including Out of Africa, Havana, and Three Days of the Condor. I found three chapters in this book to be especially illuminating towards Redford's career and place in cinema. They are: Chapter 6) At the Academy Chapter 13) Two and a Half Careers chapter 18) Sundance It is true that the big turning points in the life of a person can only be known looking back. For Redford it is clear that the time spent in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah possess an undying influence on his soul and his career that permeated throughout his life. His purchase there of the several thousand acres of property for pennies on the acre that subsequently became the basis of his Sundance Institute has created an influence that will last for decades beyond the filmmaker's own mortality. In 1956 penniless, he slept on the beach in front of the Carlton Hotel in Southern France, and yet, even then, the man looked like he owned the place. The renowned psychoanalyst Carl Jung said that the truth is only available from the consent of many voices, and in the case of Redford, that is especially true. The author had to go through hell to get this book done. Redford has earned the scorn of many directors throughout his career because of his notorious habit of being late. The star was indeed late for most of the interviews that he granted Callan. Just as there is always a mentor, there is always a breakthrough project or movie, or book. It is that which sets the tone for what is to come, and certainly for Redford that had to be Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. The creation of the movie and its subsequent impact on the star's career is thoroughly chronicled in the book. Those of us old enough to remember seeing the film in the theater are well aware of its first visual impact on our senses. You watch initially as Paul Newman opens the film and we already are aware of the star qualities and exceeding good looks that Newman possesses, but then immediately we realize that Robert Redford is stealing the movie away from the Hollywood legend Newman. Redford had devastating screen presence that very few ever possessed. CONCLUSION: I loved this book, and it was worth the 20 years that I have waited for will become the definitive biography of Robert Redford's life. A life still in the making by the way. I thank you for reading this review and will leave you with this story. For many years Redford maintained a home in Westport CT where I live along with a few prominent people including Paul Newman for 40 years until his death. Back in the 1990's Redford was down at the beach trying to get in, so he could spend an afternoon boating with Paul Newman who kept a small boat in the water by the beach. Redford never carried money ($25 to park) and did not have a required beach sticker to get in to park. He tells the young attendant at the gate, I need to get in to park in order to go boating with Paul Newman. The kid responds I don't know who you are buddy. Redford retort's "I'm the Sundance Kid". The attendant a teenager, tells Redford, "Listen I never heard of you, but I will tell you this, if you were Bon Jovi, I'd let you right in here." An older supervising attendant came over and was kind enough to give Redford temporary pass. What a guy, and it was a great laugh, but that's Redford. Richard C. Stoyeck
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
![[Start the discussion]](http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/x-locale/communities/discussion_boards/start-new-discussion-sec._V192250339_.gif){kind=small}
