In the Can: The Greatest Career Missteps, Sophomore Slumps, What-Were-They-Thinking Decisions and Fire-Your Agent Moves in the History of the Movies

by Lou Harry, Eric Furman

You Lose Some, You Lose Some authors Lou Harry and Eric Furman continue their preoccupation with failure with In the Can — a look at fifty major movie stars and their biggest critical and box office duds. Some stars’ lowest moments may be obvious, while others take a bit more digging. Sections include:
• Bury It (or, Go Directly to Video/DVD): Including Jerry Lewis’s legendary (and never released) The Day the Clown Cried and Jim Varney and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Slam Dunk Ernest.
• Out of the Vaults: Forgotten movies that get dragged into the spotlight when a star hits it big, like Kevin Costner’s Sizzle Beach U.S.A. and Sylvester Stallone’s Party at Kitty and Stud’s.
• Oscar Jinx: You’d think an Oscar would lead one to better projects. Sometimes you’d be wrong. Think Jane Darwell after The Grapes of Wrath or Marisa Tomei after My Cousin Vinny.

160 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

Reviews

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting, but a bit too focused on box office success/failure as a means of judging the movies listed. Somewhat sloppy too, with typos and oversights - such as a reference to Robert Redford, for whom there is no actual entry. Redundant too, as they keep mentioning the same films over and over again.