The Kid Stays in the Picture

2002

Biography / Documentary

7
Rotten Tomatoes Critics - Certified Fresh 91% · 113 reviews
Rotten Tomatoes Audience - Upright 80% · 2.5K ratings
IMDb Rating 7.3/10 10 8287 8.3K

Top cast

Richard Gere as Self
Al Pacino as Self
720p.BLU 1080p.BLU
867.11 MB
1280*694
English 2.0
R
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 34 min
Seeds ...
1.73 GB
1920*1042
English 5.1
R
Subtitles us  
23.976 fps
1 hr 34 min
Seeds 8

Movie Reviews

Reviewed by lastliberal 8 / 10

Life has it's ups and downs

I was half way through with the new Hollywood issue of Vanity Fair when I came across the excerpt from Robert Evans new memoir "Kid Nortorius." I had not heard of Robert Evans, but was fascinated enough to get a copy of "The Kid Stays in the Picture" to learn more.I was glued to the tube watching the story of a man who had the incredible luck to get noticed. You all know the story of how some actress was discovered selling malteds in some drugstore. Evan was put into The Sun Also Rises. Both cast and crew, Ernest Hemingway, Tyrone Power, and Ava Gardner included, attempted to have Robert Evans fired during production. Producer Darryl F. Zanuck refused, saying, "The kid stays in the picture," thus leading to both Evans' long career as a producer and the title of his book, and this film.He knew he had no future as an actor, but he also knew that the power was in producing. he managed to get named a Vice President of Paramount in another stroke of luck. Then his talent took over and he is the man behind such memorable films as Rosemary's Baby, Love Story, The Godfather, Marathon Man, and his first as an independent producer, Chinatown. It is the story behind these films that is fascinating, especially the fact that he and Paramount were in on Love Story and The Godfather from the beginning - before they were even written! His story with directors Roman Polanski and Francis Coppola are equally fascinating.His own Love story with Ali McGraw is equally fascinating, though it ended in tragedy. But luck does a strange turn and tragedy really struck in the form of a Hollywood murder case where his name was mentioned. Not a suspect, just on the periphery, but it was enough to send him to the depths of hell - within a hair's breadth of suicide.It was his friends that brought him back to where he is today. Now, he is telling the rest of the story in a new Memoir, "Kid Nortorious".If you love films as I do, then you really need to see this one to provide a back story to some of your favorites. hey, you probably should be buying his books as well.
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Reviewed by FilmOtaku 8 / 10

An excellent telling of a great Hollywood story

Documentaries are a dime a dozen, and I've seen my share. Being the type of person who would watch a documentary on anything, I was excited to catch this film about a man who has had one hell of a career in Hollywood. I knew I would find the subject matter interesting, but was completely surprised at how much I enjoyed the way the story was presented.

The Kid Stays In The Picture is the story of Robert Evans, told in Evans' words and narrated by Evans himself. His amazing career highs and lows are detailed in fantastic cinematic fashion, utilizing photographs and film clips from Evans' acting, then producing career while accompanied by Evans' enrapturing narration. The stories told by Evans were so effective and interesting that it could have been overlaying a blank screen and would have riveting. He is truthful, arrogant and most importantly, self-deprecating. He isn't afraid to admit the mistakes he made in his career, which is a refreshing turn from so many self-serving documentaries.

If anything, this film is worth watching for two scenes: When Evans tells the story of his near-suicidal moments that are harrowing in itself, but is accompanied by appropriate images from some of the films he produced. The other is during the final credits, when you see Dustin Hoffman do an incredible and hilarious impersonation of Evans on the phone. I certainly hope that Evans was proud of the way this documentary portrayed him, and should be commended in the way he portrayed himself.

--Shelly

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