"When I Stop Talking..." is a very entertaining and glamourous series of memories that describe in fine detail the life and times of a successful movie producer. It's done in the same PG-13 way that his blockbusters turn out, loose and relaxed, but often without any nitty-gritty. He glosses over a two-year drug addiction with a throw-away bravado reference to quitting cold turkey. That and the minor role his children play in this life story, lead me to judge the author for what he leaves out more than for what he put in.I kept comparing it to the great Robert Evans memoir "The Kid Stays in the Picture", which pulled no punches and showed how the fights between masters of the universe resulted in memorable features like "The Godfather" and "Chinatown". I highly recommend that book for Hollywood insider fans.
"An Improvised Life" comes from the other side of the spectrum - that warm, encouraging place where creativity flows and people are unlocking truths about themselves and their own perceptions while performing. Accessing these inner feelings is Arkin's goal as an improviser and frequent improvisational workshop leader. The first part of his book is devoted to the life and times history of his career, from early education and street life (hitchhiking cross-country on the promise of a scholarship as one of two boys allowed at an all-girls college) to working with Oscar winners and amateurs and how they both taught him.
He also talks about how the road life can be hard on a family, and, like, Weintraub, had a failed marriage at the start of his career. Arkin, however, speaks fondly of his children, actors themselves, and recalls in great detail, how their growth in their craft, and as people, have continuously shaped him in his adulthood.It is his constant quest for learning and growing that make Arkin's book a different kind of page-turner than Weintraub's, which is as light as an episode Entourage, if not more authentic. As an improviser, as well as someone who works in the corporate-machine area of the business, I found his perspective valuable. It's good to know that there are artists at every level still striving for something true - beyond the commercial lie.
As a part-time improviser and full-time TV crew member, I often straddle the line (in my own self-eggrandizing way) between the "art" (mucking around at the PIT with my friends) and the "commerce" (pasting up "To Set" signs at 5 o'clock in the morning). As a sometime small-scale video producer/director, some of Weintraub's anecdotes are helpful AND entertaining - I specifically cite the "Firing Ferguson" chapter, on how the author talked an edgy and emotional John Denver out of several all ties by firing the fictional employee "Ferguson". The psychology of working on set to get things done, the all-business angle, is something we have to deal with, no matter how grandiose our dreams of making art un-compromised are. This is the side of the spectrum that Weintraub's life and book exist.
On the other side is Arkin's, which makes me want to be a better person.
