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Reviews The Unkindest Cut
Review by James MacGregor The Unkindest Cut is a chronicle of cinematic obsession, acutely and ascerbically observed by the man who suffered for it. Joe Queenan’s whodunnit low-budget debut, Twelve Steps To Death, may have suffered lack of direction rather than lack of will, but Queenan’s account of his own directorial demise carries no fat. His pen and razor-sharp wit cut to the very quick of the business of making a no-budget movie. Queenan’s
inspiration for his cinematic triumph -the triumph of surviving the experience
rather than any acclaim resulting from it- is said to be Robert Rodriguez, who
claimed to have shot his film El Mariachi for $7,000. Film critic Queenan was
not certain if this was true or merely film hype. He decided to invest a little
of his savings and find out. This
is a journey of discovery that will be close to the heart of every filmaker, but
with Queenan’s pen so seasoned with wit, the book has to be more entertaining
than the film that created it. We wince at the obstacles, the massive cost
overruns, the sabotaged equipment and there are sharp intakes of breath at the
on-set stabbing and the tearful resignation for the cast of his seven-year-old
son. And yes, Queenan fell out with his 1st AD. Whatever
the achievements of Rodriguez and those other pioneers of
low-cost moviemaking, there can be no disputing that Queenan made the
most expensive $7,000 movie in history: expensive on the nerves, on the goodwill
of his neighbours in Tarrytown, New York, on his own family relationships. But
the cost in cash went on his credit card. You
may never get to see his film, but you can still be entertained by Joe
Queenan’s low Buy The Unkindest Cut at Amazon.co.uk
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