Rating: 
Summary: The Stuff of Hollywood Legend.
Review: "The Kid Stays in the Picture" is a documentary based on Robert Evans' autobiography of the same name. Narrated by Evans himself and illustrated with interviews, movie clips, publicity photos and paparazzi footage, "The Kid Stays in the Picture" traces the career of this iconic Hollywood producer from his serendipitous introduction to the film industry in the 1950's to his return to Paramount pictures in the 1990's after a long estrangement. Robert Evans' already had a successful career and great prospects with Evan Picone's fashion house when he was discovered poolside by Norma Shearer and immediately asked to play the part of her late husband in the film "Man of a Thousand Faces ". That kind of incredible, but double-edged, luck would come to characterize Evans' film career and his life. He became a magnet for controversy when Ernest Hemingway demanded that Evans be removed from his second film role, that of Pedro Romero in the film adaptation of Hemingway's "The Sun Also Rises". Producer Darryl Zanuck disagreed, however, and declared, "The kid stays in the picture!" to all who would oppose him. Thus, Zanuck gave Robert Evans the title for his future autobiography and a new goal: to become a producer. Robert Evans tells us the story of his surprising meteoric rise to the head of Paramount pictures in 1967, then the 9th most successful studio in Hollywood, and how he transformed Paramount into Hollywood's premier studio. Among the most entertaining stories from that "Second Golden Age" of Hollywood, the 1970's, are Evans' search for a director for Mario Puzo's book "The Godfather" and his insistence that Francis Ford Coppola make the film longer, and his battle of wills with Frank Sinatra to get Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" finished. Evans speaks honestly of his marriage to actress Ali MacGraw and the legal troubles which ended his tenure at Paramount and left him in financial ruin in the 1980's. Movie buffs and fans of Hollywood lore will enjoy "The Kid Stays in the Picture". Be sure to stick around for Dustin Hoffman's hilarious imitation of Robert Evans which runs during the end credits and perfectly tops off Evans' life story.
Rating: 
Summary: Best Biographical Documentary Ever
Review: "The Kid Stays in the Picture" is the best biographical documentary I have ever seen. Robert Evans narrates his experiences in the film industry with humor and humility. His story is illustrated using still pictures which are brought to life in a thrilling fashion. Please treat yourself to this DVD. You'll want to experience this magical documentary over and over again.
Rating:
Summary: a must-see for movie fans
Review: "The Kid Stays in the Picture," a documentary about famed movie producer and studio head Robert Evans, begins like "The Great Gatsby," a film Evans produced in 1974. To the wistful strains of "What'll I Do?" playing in the background, the camera glides lovingly over the furnishings, pictures and memorabilia that adorn Evans' Bel Air mansion and estate. The comparison is an apt one, for, like Gatsby, Evans was a wunderkind, a handsome young go-getter who knew early on the kind of life he wanted to lead and who willed himself to attain it. With a combination of good looks, charm, ambition and just a bit of plain old-fashioned good luck, he managed to go from being a mediocre movie actor to becoming the head of Paramount Studios in the course of a mere decade. And what a decade it was! Evans had a major hand in not only lifting Paramount from ninth to first place among Hollywood's major studios, but in bringing such films as "Rosemary's Baby," "True Grit," "Love Story," "Chinatown" and, of course, "The Godfather" to movie screens everywhere."The Kid Stays in the Picture" is a dream-come-true for hardcore cinephiles, providing a fascinating behind-the-scenes glimpse into one of the true Golden Ages of Hollywood filmmaking. Evans' story is, in fact, the story of that time, for truly he hobnobbed with virtually every one of the key players responsible for that era. Evans' tale follows a fairly conventional arc for men of his type: the ambitious kid with dreams of larger-than-life glory achieves meteoric success in the entertainment business only to have his ambitions dashed on the shores of rampant egotism, overconfidence and drug addiction. In fact, Evans' life would make perfect fodder for a film of its own, as this documentary and the positive response to it demonstrates. Evans himself narrates the film, and although he tends to be a bit easier on himself than an outsider might have been, he is still willing to chastise himself when he feels it's called for and to render some rather startlingly unflattering assessments of certain major players on the Hollywood scene. He is, also, however, utterly devoted to those he feels have stuck by him through good times and bad, and he is not averse to lavishing praise on others when it is due. One objection to Evans' narration is that he doesn't always speak with the utmost clarity, sometimes making what he says come out garbled and incomprehensible. As a piece of filmmaking, "The Kid Stays in the Picture" offers a kaleidoscopic array of stills, film clips and reenactments that reflect the temper and mood of the time. Directors Brett Morgan and Nanette Burstein obviously pored through a wealth of material on the subject, culling from it a comprehensive, streamlined and fast-moving narrative that grips the audience with its humor, its sadness and its tribute to the indomitableness of the human spirit. For if Evans' story is about anything, it is about how important it is for each individual to achieve his dreams and how equally vital it is for that same person, once he has fallen down, to pick himself up off the floor so that he can continue pursuing that dream. "The Kid Stays in the Picture" is a wonderful time capsule for those who love movies. No true film fan should miss it.
Rating: 
Summary: The rise and fall of a Hollywood Kid.
Review: "The Kid Stays in the Picture" is a pull-no-punches chronicle of Hollywood producer Robert Evans' rise and fall in the movie business; narrated by Evans himself with one of the better voices you've ever heard, it either interests you or it doesn't, that interest directly proportional to one's fondness and intellectual investment in the movie business itself. Evans was on his way to becoming an Evan Piccone pants mogul in the 1960s when Norma Shearer spotted him by a Beverly Hills pool and insisted he be cast as her husband, Hollywood mogul Irving Thalberg, in the Lon Chaney biopic, "The Man with 1,000 Faces." He got the role, and later kept a plum role as the bullfighter in "The Sun Also Rises," despite the protests of Ernest Hemingway and Ava Gardner, when studio chief Daryl Zanuck visited the set, watched Evans perform a scene and said, "The kid stays the in picture." From that moment forward, Evans didn't want to be the kid. He wanted to be Zanuck. And Zanuck he would become for Paramount Studios, which, at the time he took it over, was well behind giants 20th Century and MGM, not to mention six others. But Evans bought a book, "Rosemary's Baby," and found a director, Roman Polanski, that put the studio closer to the Hollywood epicenter. Paramount became the epicenter a few years later when a 30-year-old actress, Ali MacGraw, presented Evans with a project, "Love Story," and, later, her hand in marriage. It touched off a classic movie run that included "The Godfather" and "Chinatown" The "rise" portion of the film is its best, as Evans recalls the beautiful, mercurial MacGraw in their first meetings - "for a hippee," Evans says, "she sure was comfortable in my pool" - through her affair with Steve McQueen, for whom she walked from roles in "Chinatown" and "The Great Gatsby." Soon after, Evans opted out of Paramount for his own producing deal and fared well through the 1970s before, in, 1979, becoming a coke addict, getting arrested for trying to buying pharmaceutical grade in 1980, then producing a boondoggle in "The Cotton Club" 1984 - which also deep-sixed director Francis Ford Coppola's career as an important movie director. By late 80s, Evans was broke, out of the house he'd owned for 20 years, admitting himself a mental hospital and beginning a comeback that led to another producing deal with Paramount, albeit with movies a cut below Academy Award fare. Directors Nanette Burstein and Brett Morgen don't exactly use a camera, but compile archive footage, photo stills and cutouts to create a running stream of images, a motion picture collage of sorts, under (and sometimes over) Evans' narration. Only occasionally do the directors interject images that tell the story beyond Evans' words - in one case, as Evans describes his mental hospital stay, scenes from Paramount rush forth in an interesting commentary about the weight of prominent history on a fallen giant. "Kid" suffers from this approach, too - it would have been nice to see a Coppola interview, or a Polanski interview, or, if it could have been swung, a few minutes with the reclusive MacGraw. Evans doesn't hide from his foibles, but it is difficult, until Dustin Hoffman channels him in a spoof during the credits, to understand just what Evans could be like; if the imitation is to be believed - and it is - the laconic narrator is not exactly what he seems. Other times, Evans just lies - he says "Chinatown" won every award there was to win, when in fact, as good as it was, the movie played second fiddle to "The Godfather, Part II." The advantage of Evans' narration is clear; the lack of balance negates some of it. Yet the documentary's speed and directness puts it a cut above the typical A&E Biography material. Evans is droll, wise and regretful; he speaks like a man who tasted the top, and, not unlike the John Huston character in "Chinatown," would very much trade his respectability for a taste again.
Rating:
Summary: Very entertaining documentary
Review: Although one would think that the life story of Robert Evans would only be worthy of an E! profile, it makes for a very entertaining documentary that had every right to be released in the theatres. The film is based on Robert Evans' autobiography and one of the things that I liked about the film was that it leaves pity at the door and tells what seems to be a relatively candid story without too much bull. I really enjoyed the manner in which the documentary used newspaper clippings and snippets of interviews from yesteryear to tell a really entertaining story. The visuals are quite an ode to the 1930's. As I wastched it I found myself surprised that the story was so entertaining without having to resort to reenactments or spend an unusual amount of time dissecting the many famous people in his life. Although the story is pretty comprehensive and it gives film lovers a look behind the scenes at the birth of Paramount Pictures and some of it's greatest performing movies, I was left wanting to know more about both the man and the movies. I'd rather watch amovie that leaves me wanting more, than one that leaves me wanting to switch it off. Although the story of Robert Evans' rapid ascent and subsequent demise is not made out to be a cautionary tale, it does clearly indicate that drugs had much to do with the demise of his professional life and that how he chose to lead his professional life ultimately had a negative effect on matters of the heart. In the end I don't think that he would have wound up changing much if he had to do it over again.
Rating:
Summary: This Kid is a Really, Really Entertaining Picture
Review: Arguably one of the most entertaining films of 2002. I don't know if the film is up to snuff as a documentary (the only person's perspective that is referenced is Robert Evans, the subject of the film), but who really cares when you can hear a guy use the line "hey baby, I'm only seven digits away"?
Rating:
Summary: Very Fascinating Account of a Hollywood Producer
Review: Based on his book, this film traces the rise and fall of a Hollywood player Robert Evans, who was behind the critically acclaimed films like "Godfather" "Chinatown" and others. If you have read the book already, the surprise you get from this unique and not-so-objective documenatary may not be so big. Still, it is irresistible to know some bits of inside stories of Hollywood, and some footages are really fascinating, as I tell you later. As you know, Robert Evans (most recently co-produced Kate Hudson hit "How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days") is a Hollywood mogul who started his career as, most fittingly, an actor who played Irving Thalberg in "Man of a Thousand Faces." But what he really wished for was something better than the unstable status of handsome idol star; he wanted something more powerful, which means the role of producer. Recollecting the days of chasing his career in Tinsel Town, Robert Evans talks about many episodes; about Mia Farrow's behaviors toward her (then) husband Frank Sinatra during the shooting of "Rosemary's Baby"; his meeting with Ali MacGraw and parting with her; and his devastivating experience about "The Cotton Club." If you like this kind of gossip or inside stories, you might have already heard them. (For example, William Castle was first supposed to direct "Rosemary's Baby," but Evans wanted Polanski.) Still, I admit I was drawn into the incredible world as he remembers. The highlight of the film is, to me, the follwing two; one is a short film made especially for pursuading the execs of the Gulf and Western not to dump Paramount Picture. Here you can see Evans himself "pitch" in front of a camera (directed by Mike Nichols!), and tells the merit of keeping the present course, promising a hit movie next Christmas, which, eventually, was to be "Love Story." The other comes during the end credit of the film, in which you can see young Dustin Hoffman (around the time of "Marathon Man") impersonate Evans (the footage shot at Evans' home Woodland), which is very, very funny. You may say the narration, all provided by Evans himself, has some tone of self-absorption. And you are probably right. But he has lived a life that deserves that glorification (for good or worse), so let's not talk about it. The director team Brett Morgan and Nanette Burnstein skillfully uses the vintage clips of films, photos, and TV footages. The photos are allowed to move, as if in animation, so the film sometimes looks like photo montage you have seen in surrealism art movement. Though there are no interviews specially prepared for this occasion, the film is very intersting and rivetting to see, and it's not bad to know some of Jack Nicholson's surprising and tender side (and that crazy photo).
Rating:
Summary: A night with a Hollywood legend.
Review: Before you watch this movie, know that this is simply Robert Evans telling the stories from his days as studio head and producer, with photos and video clips accompanying him. Sound kinda boring? Some of you might be a little disappointed, but I found Robert Evans to be bursting with personality and great stories. Although I was expecting a real movie, with dramatizations of his life, I think the "documentary" format of the movie was a good idea. If you've seen Robert Evans on late night talk shows recently, you know that he is quite a character. Any actor who would play him wouldn't be as good as the real thing. It would be impossible to fake his five-packs-a-day raspy voice.
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Summary: This Is Why I Make Pictures
Review: Bobbie Evans is one of the great Master's of Producing. It is because men like him, that I dreamed of telling stories as my career. The Kid Stays In The Picture is better then any film class I ever took. His vision, passion, love for people and drive is shown in this wonderful picture. Bobs soothing, whiskey-cigar voice takes you away from the real world and takes you along on a fantastic journey. If this doesn't receive an honor at the 75th Academy Awards...then Hollywood will continue to prove, that it is honoring some lame duck pictures. I personally have asked that Bob receive special honors this year...he has waited long enough, and should be honored for his marvelous story telling. Check it out...if you aren't happy with the picture, e-mail me and tell me why. I won't give you anything, I am just a curios Producer!
Rating:
Summary: For Hollywood Buffs...Only (Maybe)
Review: Darn! I should read the paper more closely. It turns out that the filmmakers actually spoke at the theater where I saw this movie(Upstate Films in Rhinebeck NY, if I can give them the plug) the DAY BEFORE! My timing is bad like that. Or maybe not, after all. I enjoyed this well-made documentary, based on Evans' autobio of the same name, but now that I think of it, I probably would have had a hard time coming up with a half-way decent question or comment for the filmmakers. This is an engaging look at the Hollywood of the past 40 years or so, but neither it nor Evans himself is particularly reflective or insightful. If you're a film-buff of a particular stripe (one at least somewhat caught up in Hollywood lore) this may be the film for you. If, like many people, you enjoy at least some Hollywood product but are not particularly fascinated by its machinations, then it may be one you can pass up. Me, well, I'm kinda in between. I found it engrossing and somewhat instructive about what it takes to survive in a cut-throat industry. That much insight is there certainly. But it's no surprise that Hollywood is heartless and (these days especially) art-less. KID does not pretend to be an expose in any event. As a film biography of someone you may or may not have heard of, or may or may not care about, it is pretty effective however. More serious questions about "art of the cinema" will have to be addressed in some other forum.
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