Customer Reviews

Which Lie Did I Tell?: More Adventures in the Screen Trade

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(17)
3 star:		(11)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

William Goldman's follow-up to "Adventures in the Screen Trade" follows much the same form as that book. It's intended for an audience of prospective Hollywood screenwriters, but can be equally enjoyed by those interested in frank Hollywood gossip and tales from an insider. Goldman is a perfect tour guide across this terrain, for he loves to teach from his experiences, and is an entertaining and economical writer. Most of this book feels like a private chat with a friendly old uncle who's lead an exciting and adventure filled life.

Goldman starts by revisiting a successful section from his earlier memoir: anecdotes from his experiences writing his most recent work. Tales of adapting his own "The Princess Bride", his love for the material and for Andre the Giant; the good intentioned but eventual failures of "The Year of the Comet" and "The Ghost and the Darkness" (the latter is a good example of how the material can get away from the writer once an egotistical star is on board, in this case Michael Douglas); and how he went about adapting "Misery" and "Absolute Power". This last example was my favourite, for even though the book it's based on was pulp, and movie barely registered, Goldman uses it as a fine example on the problems of adapting, and how you need to be ruthless just to make the thing work. He takes you through his process step-by-step, and the parts where he's racking his brain on how to make the sucker work are tangible in their frustration. Also, there were some nifty Clint Eastwood moments that make you respect the Man with No Name even more.

The second section takes a look at several of Goldman's favourite film scenes (from a screenwriter's point of view), and proposes to analyze why they worked. While his passion for these moments is palpable, Goldman skimps on the analysis. Why was the zipper scene in "There's Something About Mary" so effective? Why does the chess scene in "The Seventh Seal" resonant still? He does a fine job, though, finding the importance of the cliff scene from "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". But then he should know that one inside out, because he wrote it (Warning: if you have never seen or do not at all appreciate "Butch and Sundance", I'd stay away from this book; Goldman has enthusiastic affection for his first big hit, and returns to it often for examples; I myself love the movie and was glad to read more about it). The best part of this section is his attempt to wrestle credit for the crop-duster scene in "North by Northwest" from Alfred Hitchcock, and give it to the screenwriter, Ernest Lehman. I was convinced.

The third section offers the reader a chance to be screenwriter. Goldman presents several newspaper clippings as examples of possible source material for an original screenplay. He then takes us through the process of molding and shaping the materiel to the demands of the screen. It's pedantic Goldman at his best.

In the final section, Goldman presents an original screenplay he's written to various professional screenwriters, to show the function of a "script doctor" (Goldman's latest and most notorious Hollywood incarnation). The screenplay he's written, a tired detective adventure called "The Big A", is still in process, and it's a treat reading Goldman thinking out loud. He doesn't know where to go with the story at some points, and presents the reader with various possibilities. He's unsure about a scene he's just written, and admits to its inadequacies. He's having problems with character, and admits to that too.

But Goldman is not nearly as hard on himself as those he's solicited for help are. This was my favourite section of the book. On the one hand, the submissions he's received are biting, witty, and malicious in the most entertaining of ways. On the other hand, they full of a variety of great ideas, all of which would turn "The Big A" into a bona fide movie. Tony Gilroy (who wrote "The Devil's Advocate") is particularly effective on both of these fronts; his writing is lovable curmudgeonry at its best.

If Goldman ever decides to finish off this trilogy, I'll be right there waiting. Whether in narrative prose or memoir form, his writing is easily digestible, fun, and most importantly, informative. He wears his passions on his sleeve, and invites the reader to do the same. I was right there with him the whole time, lapping up his nuggets of wisdom. I guess the best praise I have is that everytime I finish a Goldman book, I get the itch to go write a screenplay myself. And feel perfectly equipped to do so.

I'm a huge fan of Goldman's books and most of his screenplays, and the original Adventures in the Screen Trade still stands as the definitive how-Hollywood-works primer. It's great to have him deconstructing the industry once again, praising some unlikely subjects--who would think the 67-year old author of Marathon Man would have picked the Farrelly brothers' There's Something About Mary as 1998's best film?--and attacking even more unlikely subjects--would you expect the screenwriter of A Bridge Too Far to loathe Saving Private Ryan? Goldman does, and how.) I have two key problems with Which Lie Did I Tell, however. One is, many Goldman fans will have seen a lot of this text before. Much of this material has appeared in Premiere Magazine over the years, as well as in collections of Goldman's screenplays. Long-time Goldman enthusiasts, then, might be a bit miffed about buying recycled material. My other misgiving is Goldman's tendency to rely too much on Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid when he's trying to get a point across. The original Adventures, remember, included the complete Butch screenplay and a lot of background material about the real-life duo and the making of the film. So it's disconcerting to see scene after scene from Butch used in the new book, along with many of the same anecdotes Goldman told us the first time around. On the other hand, if you're going to use a single film for a lot of your examples of screenwriting, you could do a lot worse than an Oscar-winning Western classic. So, if you read (and liked) Adventures in the Screen Trade and haven't read Goldman's movie pieces elsewhere, give this review an extra star and give Which Lie Did I Tell a try. If you know every line of Adventures and sought out everything Goldman has written since then, you might consider waiting for the paperback. (Hey, he's rich and his children are grown, no one's going to starve if you pass on the hardcover.)

...it still is very much worth a read. (Goldman has such an easy going, conversational writing style, you can polish off this book a few hours.) One of my favorite all time books is his first Adventures in the Screen Trade, which was the first book that I ever read about how Hollywood really works. (His analysis of The Great Santini is classic.) This book is highly entertaining, but it does not have the sheen of originality that the first book had. And I was really getting a bit tired reading about Butch Cassidy (he even acknowledges that the book's reader might hurl the thing across the room, due to his constant references of that film.) I would much rather have read his thoughts on The Last Action Hero. What the hell was going through the movie makers minds on that one? But overall, this book was lots of fun, especially his analysis of There's Something About Mary and Fargo. And it was fun reading about why that Chevy Chase Invisible Man movie was so horrendous. So, if you like movies, go ahead and read this, but make sure you read the first Adventures in the Screen Trade first.

This was a readable, good book. I would like to counter a point made in the March 20 review below, that comments on how Goldman takes credit for the "Good Will Hunting" screenplay, that Affleck and Damon won Oscars for. Goldman is JOKING! He's being SARCASTIC! I don't know how you could think he was being serious! He says, (when being unsarcastic) "I worked one day on the screenplay with them, gave them my opinion about a section, and that was that." Apparently some in Hollywood didn't think two young upstarts could write an Oscar winning screenplay, so said Goldman must have written it. Goldman is making a JOKE out of that rumor. Read the section again. GOLDMAN IS NOT TAKING CREDIT, but the exact opposite. And as far as the bitter tone, Robert Redford said this: "All writers have a lot of anger." It's hard to avoid among literary persons. And I'm glad he takes digs at others in the industry in this book. Writers are so important to movies, but they are treated like they are worthless (compared to directors and stars), and have little power. The one place they can vent their spleens is in books, and I'm more than happy to see them let off some steam, while entertaining me at the same time.

I haven't enjoyed a book about the film industry so much since reading the mesmerising The Kid Stays in the Picture, by Robert Evans (an appalling man, a great book). As an aspiring and horribly procrastinating writer, I found this a deeply moving and energising book. Did I know that every writer hates writing, finds reading their own stuff mortifying and hates people criticising it? To be honest, I didn't.

The other thing is that is truly extraordinary, is his revelation that the only book thing he has written, really loves, and is proud of, is the Princess Bride, again a very worthy and inspirational one. Having read a lot of books, and often the whole works of individual authors, I really believe that even great authors only have one world class book in them.

For me, there were two episodes from the book that really moved me. The first, is his meeting with his hero author, and makes a complete prat out of himself. His treatment of him as a god, upsets his hero, because he ignores the pain and suffering that his writing has caused. While his moving writing on the life and death of Andre the Giant, really brought tears to my eyes.

This isn't a gossipy book about Hollywood. It isn't even a book about screen writing. It's about the fundamental process of being a writer, and how to do it. I now know two major things about writing. You don't have a hope of being a successful writer unless you find someone to criticise your work, deeply, and thoroughly, and you can't ever hope it will get any easier. You're always going to want to be somewhere else, doing something more interesting, than putting stuff on paper.

Just for the record I've only read this and The Princess Bride, I don't think I will be reading any more, because I don't want my illusions about the man destroyed. But thank you, my friends for buying me the book to try and give me a kick, and thank you Mr Goldman, for having written a self help book for one aspiring and horribly procrastinating writer.

The only points of discord for me are niggles, and not related to the value of the book. His repect for David Lean, for example, puts my teeth on edge, as he was a monomaniacal abomination who destroyed a large number of lives, to make one great film, and a number of very bad ones (Ryan's Daughter anyone).

The other is that he sometimes doesn't see the wood for the trees. Simply put, in his screenplay at the end of the book, it all works if set in the noir era (1930's to 1940's). The other point is that if his great film (The Princess Bride, obviously) had been put throught the proper Hollywood marketing machine and had the right budget, it would not have come out with the same wonderful cheesy feeling (bad sets, etc), that is part of its joy. So he, very luckily in my opinion, traded a hit film with a beautiul looking Zoo of Death, for a eternal classic. An ironic example of the luck, that he is so at pains to emphasise, is all part of the movie business.

I agree with other reviewers that this book was entertaining. I enjoyed it, although i also agree with the idea that it's a bit rambling. The sample script beginning at the end of the book, critiqued by other writers, was probably the most interesting part of the book because of the insight it provides to writers' approaches. I only wish that goldman had included an email address for the reader to express opinions.

Some of the other reviewers criticize Goldman for expressing strong opinions. Personally, I would prefer reading a strong opinion with which I might disagree to being spoonfed crap that I supposedly Want To Hear. I *love* strong opinions. Goldman wrote a Clint Eastwood movie that didn't become a classic, so How Dare He Dislike "Saving Private Ryan"? So, "Absolute Power" wipes out "The Princess Bride" and "Butch Cassidy"? And if he writes a mediocre movie, his opinions about what makes a movie good are no longer valid?

This is akin to what a book reviewer came up with when James Cagney wrote that one of the finest actresses he'd ever worked with was Doris Day. The reviewer raked Cagney over the coals for that, forgetting that (A) Doris Day was damned good in "Love Me or Leave Me" with Cagney and (B) Cagney was certainly a better judge of whom he liked to work with than the reviewer. Cagney was talking about Day's talent and potential; the reviewer only saw "Pillow Talk" glazing in front of his eyes. Opinions from professionals like Cagney or Goldman may be disagreed with, but certainly not dismissed.

This book is highly recommended, both for its extremely fun anecdotes and especially for the screenwriting tutorial, which is blessed with abundant common sense. As an aspiring screenwriter, my goal after reading this book is to study the breeziness, the flow of Goldman's storytelling and find a way to apply it to my own voice. If you are a movie fan, buy this book. If you want to write screenplays, buy two copies, one for the shelf and one you can mark up with hi-liter pens and post-it notes.

There is a world of difference in perspective between an Academy Award winning screenwriter and a writer that has optioned a couple of scripts (at best) and then goes on to write a "how to" book. You gotta give Mr. Goldman respect. I appreciate that he has taken the time (even if it does seem like therapy at times) to tell his side of the story. There are many great writers out there that haven't and I'm sure they've got some stories to tell as well. Maybe they don't want to rock the boat or they couldn't be bothered. The fact that William Goldman does makes him special.

This book would be invaluable for anyone thinking of trying to earn a living as a screenwriter. Opening with Goldman's recolections of his pariah status in the early 80's, it follows his return to writing books and screenplays (Maverick, Misery, Absolute Power). I did not realize that he had also written the book, on which the Princess Bride was based, and it was very revealing the process he took to produce that book. Be forwarned, he is very caustic and sarcastic at times, but it is tempered with real insight. He also includes snipets of his work...as written, and gives unlimited advice to anyone who would want to follow in his footprints. The final section is almost a master class of writing, he provides a screenplay, and comments from various well known writers. I enjoyed the memoir and the honesty.

I loved Adventures in the Screen Trade, so I bought Which Lie did I tell? While not quite as good as the first book, it was still entertaining and informative. I loved reading his section on The Princess Bride, and I was glad to read that he actually liked that movie (since he tends not to like anything he's written).

Unfortunately, since I read Adventures in the screen Trade so recently (and he wrote it 20 years ago), a lot of the information--especially when he would talk about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid--seemed like he was repeating himself. It wasn't that bad, though. It was still fun to read it a second time around.

As with Adventures..., I loved the section at the end of the book where he included a screenplay and had people analyze it. It's very interesting to see what works and what doesn't in other people's eyes. It helps to give a good idea to what to include in my own screenplays.

Overall, it was a wonderful book--just not as good as the first one. C'est la vie.