PositiveUSA TodayGray cannily pinpoints why Benjamin Braddock (played by Dustin Hoffman), a lethargic and malleable 21-year-old whose apathy has no apparent source, took root in ticket-buying Baby Boomers … Often academic in tone, Seduced by Mrs. Robinson aims to secure ‘The Graduate’ its proper place in the Hollywood canon. Gray pays special attention to the ‘sadness beneath the comedic surface’ of a film that hit theaters during a period of social unrest, the Vietnam war and growing protests.
Erin Carlson
PositiveUSA TodayEven Ephron devotees will discover new tidbits, like the origin of the name 'Joe Fox,' Tom Hanks' character from You’ve Got Mail (the name of her droll Random House editor beau); the fights she'd have on set (including the big speech Billy Crystal gives at the end of When Harry Met Sally); and how closely Ryan and Julia Roberts vied for plum roles at the start of their careers ... The industry gossip is fun, and Carlson interviews famous faces like Hanks and Ryan. Yet too often in I'll Have What She's Having the retelling gets stuck in the weeds, with long passages on details like location scouting and costuming. Carlson is at her best when she resurfaces Ephron's own deadpan passages ... with an author as strong as the late writer at its core, surrounding passages often fall short. Still, it’s an enjoyable ride through the years Ephron spent behind the camera ... What Carlson effectively creates is a persuasive time capsule of a filmmaker who believed a connection of the heart was born of a soulful, searing, satisfying tête-à-tête between two equals.
Alec Baldwin
PositiveUSA TodaySome memoirs invite speed-reading until the juicier 'fame' chapters; but Baldwin, an eloquent writer who attempts to see his past through various vantage points, creates a vivid look at the boy who lost his distant father, whom he adored, too young; the burgeoning young TV star who abused cocaine and alcohol in his 20s, and the man who would gamble on movie fame over Broadway in the mid-‘90s — and come to regret it. Readers who come for showbiz dish will leave well-served. Baldwin careens through his own IMDB credits, talking frankly of his co-stars ... Baldwin holds little back detailing his relationship with Basinger, alternately giving her kudos in their early days and seething over her actions in their custody battles. Indeed, he offers an intimate look into the dissolution of their relationship. It's remarkably raw, human and relatable.
