The Big Picture: Who Killed Hollywood? and Other Essays

by William Goldman, Herb Gardner

William Goldman, who holds two Academy Awards for his screenwriting ( Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and All the President's Men ), and is author of the perennial best seller Adventures in the Screen Trade , scrutinizes the Hollywood movie scene of the past decade in this engaging collection. With the film-world-savvy and razor-sharp commentary for which he is known, he provides an insider's take on today's movie world as he takes a look at “the big picture” on Hollywood, screenwriting, and the future of American cinema. Paperback.

Genres: Nonfiction, Film, Essays, Media Tie In, History, Writing, Humor

290 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Goldman grew up in a Jewish family in Highland Park, Illinois, a Chicago suburb, and obtained a BA degree at Oberlin College in 1952 and an MA degree at Columbia University in 1956.His brother was the late James Goldman, author and playwright.

William Goldman had published five novels and had three plays produced on Broadway before he began to write screenplays. Several of his novels he later used as the foundation for his screenplays.

In the 1980s he wrote a series of memoirs looking at his professional life on Broadway and in Hollywood (in one of these he famously remarked that "Nobody knows anything"). He then returned to writing novels. He then adapted his novel The Princess Bride to the screen, which marked his re-entry into screenwriting.

Goldman won two Academy Awards: an Academy Award for Writing Original Screenplay for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, and an Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay for All the President's Men. He also won two Edgar Awards, from the Mystery Writers of America, for Best Motion Picture Screenplay: for Harper in 1967, and for Magic (adapted from his own 1976 novel) in 1979.

Goldman died in New York City on November 16, 2018, due to complications from colon cancer and pneumonia. He was eighty-seven years old.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goldman says repeatedly in these amusing but disjointed essays: there is no best; there is what you like. Horse hockey! He perfectly distilled why Saving Private Ryan was actually a pretty crappy film with a few brilliant moments. But he lost me when he raved about Helen Hunt, whose performance in As Good As It Gets I rated last among the 5 Best Actress nominations that year. Ah, well, different strokes! No blemish on the brilliant screenplays that Goldman himself has written (look him up on IMDb).

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I ever write a book, I’d like it to be like this one. I love movies, and I love the conversations surrounding what the best movies are.

[Robert · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of magazine articles from the 90's, but reading them back to back makes for a repetitive and disappointing experience, since Goldman uses the same anecdotes and the same literary tricks over and over and over and over and over again. Still it has some value, mainly as a contemporary record of how now-classic films were viewed in their time.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of Goldman's newest collection of essays is deceptive. Unlike his expansive reflections in "Adventures in the Screen Trade, "these selections (most of which originally appeared in Premiere, the New York Daily News and New York magazine) narrowly focus on Goldman's once timely film reviews and his commentaries on the 1990-1999 Academy Awards.

With two screenwriting Oscars under his belt (for "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid" and "All the President's Men"), Goldman is a knowledgeable Hollywood tour guide. On the rare occasions when his predictions are off-target, he's still entertaining. However, this slight collection could have benefited from annotations to make it more accessible to Hollywood outsiders who might be wondering which film finally won the Oscar and how much those projected hits ultimately grossed.

Most pleasurable are Goldman's assured opinions ("Giving the Best Actor--actor is the word folks--to Roberto Benigni for his mugging in Life Is Beautiful is, for me, a sin, a disgrace and removes forever the argument from those who felt DeMille's Greatest Show on Earth was the worst Oscar winner ever.") and his contrarianisms ("The trouble with the Oscar show is that it is too short."). Goldman hits his stride with "You Go, Girls!," taking on executives who delude themselves into thinking that every successful movie about women is a fluke, and the "The Emperor's New Fatigues," which lambastes Saving Private Ryan.

[Bill Seitz · Rating 2 out of 5]

A collection of old magazine articles, eg.. "Here's what I think about the big movies that came out in the last 3 months" - kinda tedious years later.

[Rob Whitaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm so happy I stumbled into this set of books on movies by Bill Goldman. This inspired me to watch Unforgiven (it was awesome) and have a lot more fun with the oscars this year. There's a delicacy and balance that Goldman brings to his commentary that feels casual, but I believe is quite difficult. He's extremely candid and not afraid to be critical, but it all reads in a way that doesn't feel offensive or personal to anyone.

My biggest pet peeve with people who are critics / movie people is they like every movie. 4 hours long, boring as hell? Sign them up. Bill brings a much more grounded POV to his yearly analysis of the industry and isn’t afraid to put his support behind less artsy fartsy movies. I loved his take on Something About Mary being his pick for Best Picture and the Academy’s tendency to ignore Comedy and Action films - couldn’t agree more.

It feels like there’s still a void / hole in the market current day for what Bill covers in this book. There’s plenty of great people covering the space (love Chris Ryan and Fennessy), but not with the overall ‘idgaf I’m going to speculate about the industry being in a bad place’ attitude. God knows Goldman wouldn’t be happy with where the industry is now, but I can’t say he would be surprised.

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Someone said it was tedious. It could be called repetitive. He’s told at least one of these stories in his other books (Andre the Giant’s kindness, Eastwood’s humility). And you’ll see a couple stories/lines repeated multiple times throughout the book. I found myself wondering if I would finish it at times, what with the monotony of analyzing all the “big” movies of EVERY year of the 1990s. But just when I’m losing interest he reels me back in! Did you like Saving Private Ryan? Well read Goldman explaining its flaws. Love that Roberto Benigni won the Oscar for Life is Beautiful? Goldman’s got somethin to say about that. Did you love Shakespeare in Love? No? Good. You’ll love what Goldman has to say. And the list doesn’t stop there. Each article is just the perfect bite-sized piece of movie commentary. With some (not as much as his other books) incites into what goes on Out There, some fun anecdotes, and a WHOLE LOT of opinion, this book is for people who love movies and are familiar with all of the wonderful and not-so-wonderful movies from the 90s.

[Ricky Carrigan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goldman’s writing is so fun, breezy, jocular and teeming with years of accumulated knowledge of the movie industry. The key is his awareness of the absurdity of Hollywood. He’s in on it and he wants us to be in on it. Goldman’s essays prove great writing comes in different forms. His off-the-cuff style works so well because he is genuine and passionate about the movies. Yes he occasionally slips into the role of old-fogey wistful for movies of the 1950’s and 60’s, but hey when I’m 70 I’m sure I’ll long for the decades of my youth too. I’m a big Bill Simmons fan, and after reading these Goldman essays I can see just how influential Goldman was. Good pop-culture writing is hard to find, but when it’s right it’s so good.

[Gannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun, easy read for looking back at the 90s era of film making. William's wit shines through, especially when he's lambasting the picture industry on blowing money of non-stars. Its very entertaining, especially for those who are film nerds and like to get an idea of what people were think before and after each oscar season.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Picked this up after his recent passing. A respected legend with the passion of a fan and the honesty of someone with nothing to lose (which somehow meant he couldn’t). A gentle reminder that criticism doesn’t have to be obtuse to be good.

[Zack Teibloom · Rating 4 out of 5]

It’s very fun. Disjointed and a little rambly, but it is taken from columns mostly so what do you expect. He’s an icon, but this book is a cool way to look at 90’s film from the perspective of the business and Oscars angle.

[Erica Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was different than I expected and focused more on award shows than I anticipated.

[Keith Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Funny insight to an industry that has zero idea what movie viewers want to watch

[G D · Rating 4 out of 5]

An insider’s sardonic take on the state of the movie industry in the 1990s. Lots of fun, and informative. A great beach read for movie buffs.

[Paul Reiman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book about movies from the 1990s.

[Whitney Borup · Rating 4 out of 5]

So fun for a film nerd. No one knew Home Alone was going to be a huge hit???

[Vincent Darkhelm · Rating 2 out of 5]

My least favourite book by William Goldman. It isn't awful, but it's not a good example of Mr Goldman's work.

[Dante · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of essays legendary screenwriter William Goldman wrote for New York, the now-defunct (and greatly missed, at least by me) Premiere magazine, and a few other periodicals. It's a quick read -- like a well-written screenplay, the pages have lots of white space -- and Goldman is a first-rate raconteur (though I'm sure he'd shudder upon hearing himself described that way).

One of the most refreshing things about Goldman's non-fiction work regarding Hollywood is the almost-complete absence of bullshit. [See his Adventures in the Screen Trade, published 17 years prior to this collection, as proof of Goldman's consistency in this regard.] Goldman has his sacred cows — Gunga Din among them, which I'll have to track down on Netflix one of these days -- but it's bracing to hear someone speak Truth to Power (i.e., the Gods of Hollywood) on their hypocrisy, vanity, etc. Spielberg, Damon, Stallone -- all of whom Goldman also expresses some measure of admiration for at various points in these pages -- are among those on whose cinematic foibles Goldman targets his B.S. detector. And these essays focus on the 1990s, which Goldman contends was the worst decade (creatively-speaking) in the history of Hollywood (and hence is a rich target for his scorn).

He's not merely a curmudgeon -- in fact, he's a great Hollywood romantic, another description that would make Goldman squirm, I think -- but rather he's someone who has experienced Hollywood's highs (winning Oscars for his screenplays, original and adapted) and lows (blacklisting in the 1980s, due in part to the aforementioned Adventures in the Screen Trade) and speaks with the security of someone who knows the bastards really can't hurt him. Like I said earlier, refreshing.

IMHO, the book rates slightly higher than three stars (liked it), but not quite four (really liked it). Having read The Big Picture more than a decade after it was published (and more than two decades after some of the pieces contained therein originally appeared in some publication), many of these pieces are unavoidably dated; however, the insights which underlie them are frequently timeless and consequently valuable for those interested in screenwriting and/or other aspects of the filmmaking business.

I'm sure Goldman is saddened that certain negative trends he commented on have only gotten worse in the dozen years or so since this collection appeared, though I wonder what he'd say about the shift of great dramatic story-telling from the silver screen to the living room with the advent of shows like The Sopranos, The Wire, Mad Men, and Breaking Bad.

In any case, I'd recommend this book to any fan of Goldman's writing, though Adventures in the Screen Trade remains the five-star gold-standard as far as Goldman's non-fiction writing is concerned.

[Ria · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a treat!

I was leafing through an old copy of Empire this weekend and came across an article about expectations for Summer 2012's box office. The Dark Knight Rises was tipped for the top spot, whilst The Avengers sat pretty in fourth. Funny how things work out. Anyway, it's great fun reading forecasts and comparing what actually happened, and so it was exceedingly enjoyable reading William Goldman's summary of the cinematic landscape of the 1990s.

Mr Goldman pulled these essays into a book at the end of the 90s, right around the time I was embracing my future as a film geek, so references to The Matrix, Fight Club and The Green Mile struck a chord from the start. His journey through each year largely focused on Summer Blockbusters, Holiday Movies and the Oscars, and Goldman's wit and wisdom kept me entertained all the way through.

There are some points that haven't aged well (references to Kevin Costner's star power for a start, along with praise of Mel Gibson) but some are eerily still relevant - such as the essay marvelling at the perception of movies with women in the lead being flukes. In the year when The Hunger Games was a box office smash and there is STILL shock that a non-rom-com with a woman in the lead could draw a sizeable crowd, it makes me wonder how far we've come.

Loved this book, I will happily read more of Mr Goldman's thoughts on movies.

[Aaron Martz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had me rolling on the floor laughing. It contains some of Goldman's most pointed criticism of what he likes to call Hollywood bullshit. This is a collection of magazine pieces he wrote during the '90's, so it's like opening a time capsule, but it's worth it because Hollywood hasn't changed one iota since, and has only gotten worse. The highlights include an absolutely ruthless dissection of Saving Private Ryan that is one of the most hilarious things I've read; a mockery of Robin Williams's character in Good Will Hunting; and an obituary of Jimmy Stewart that brought me to tears, wherein Goldman sights how he remembers each of his favorite stars from years past (a line or a gesture from one of their films), culminating in how he will remember Stewart. When I read Goldman's books, I want them never to end.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

A year-by-year autopsy of Hollywood's decline during the 90s. The book follows a very predictable format, which becomes a bit monotonous (the essays were originally published monthly as columns in Premiere magazine), but there's a lot of insight to be gleaned. Goldman's evisceration of Saving Private Ryan alone makes it worth a look.

[Kate · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somewhat interesting essays on a look at the Oscars mostly in the 90s, though it would have been a lot better if they had been edited for the book. As they were there was A LOT of annoying repetition.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

sure, a little repetitive. but it's really fun seeing how clueless Hollywood people are about what movie will hit it big. Plus Goldman makes an amusing curmudgeon when complaining about how movies were better back in the 50's-70's.

[Ray Charbonneau · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of magazine articles revolving around Oscars. Lots of repetition, but still fun because the details change each year and because Goldman is an engaging writer.

[John Lamb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Definitely outdated and for hardcore cinephiles.

[Mira · Rating 2 out of 5]

This took me forever to finish, I love The Princess Bride novel which was written by Mr Goldman but we're firmly in reality with this book, not a R.O.U.S. in sight.

This insider's take on Hollywood will certainly delight a true cinema lover, but I found it a little bit figure heavy and that they're just weren't enough celebrity anecdotes for my shallow tastes! (There are still quite a few good ones mind you!)