The Last Tycoon

Its funny because I just had a great conversation with some friends about a how much money the movie studios are making these days. Then I decided to give a look at the pilot for The Last Tycoon .I never read the book so I'm going in clean. I love period pieces, the costumes and the language, they are divine. Mat boomer is a great actor and seems to always have a glimmer in his eye. Whether it is be because of the pain in his heart or because of the revenge he looking to get, its always there. The rest of the cast played their roles in a satisfactory measurement. I do believe that there is an opportunity to to improve the dull relationships and obvious lackluster attitudes in this depression era movie. Good thing is that there is room for improvement, and with F Scott Fitzgerald at the root, there is a great possibility.

I love the era, the costumes, sets, music and acting. The Last Tycoon has the potential to be an excellent series with a good life. Amazon has created a lush & romantic yet realistic portrait of Hollywood in the years prior to WW-2. Each of the characters are believable and theft story held my interest throughout the fast moving sixty minutes.

It's great to see Kelsey Grammarand Matt Bomerr again. There's a good love/hate relationship evident that will likely produce some excellent moments as the story develops.

The Last Tycoon is so much more enjoyable than the typical fare the networks are putting out. Carry on, Amazon. You've got a winner here.

Nothing has changed. We can believe that corporations have taken over Tinsel Town, but in this version of "The Last Tycoon" creativity has always been controlled by committee. So the filmmakers out there that think they are autonomous, without using your own money, it 'aint happening.

That aside, the story is of wunderkind Monroe Stahr (Matt Bomer) a ambitious young studio executive who is known to fix movies within the walls of Brady-American International, a fictional movie studio run by Pat Brady (Kelsey Grammer). During the depression, they both attempt to save the studio from outside forces including the rise of stars and divas, and dark secrets of actors, the dynamics of writers and producers and so forth. Coming into the story, we also have Brady's daughter Celia Brady (Lily Collins) who is at the edge of adulthood and fixated on making her own way into Hollywood, and also Brady's wife Rose Brady (Rosemarie DeWitt) who has a history with Monroe whilst Celia holds a burning crush on him.

Admittedly, I know very little about the book, which was written by F. Scott Fitzgerald. But I've seen the late 70's version, and they both do really good things. The issue with the 70's version is that it gets TOO melancholic. This skates a very tragic line since Bomer's Monroe plays a little more buoyant and hopeful than DeNiro's Monroe, who plays it brooding and bullish.

The series has some great moments (somewhat predictable but still satisfying) and makes nods to Hollywood lore. Louis B. Mayer's (Saul Rubinek) close to making "Wizard Of Oz" a Shirley Temple reference, and also a curious one with Margo Taft (Jennifer Beals) whom I can only assume is suppose to be Merle Oberon. Any way, this does suck you in. And I loved the production design. The characters have their intentions known and fascinating when they cut between the stories. You can keep up.

IF you are interested in old Hollywood, this is a great series to remind you that movie worlds were once made by people who really cared about the content.

Once again, a series I have really enjoyed has been canceled by the powers that be! I will admit the first few episodes of the first season were a little slow (perhaps there was room for improvement in the dialogue), but as the series progressed, I was fully engrossed in the story. The physical details of the hairstyles and clothing were absolutely believable and the filming itself was gorgeous. I was particularly impressed by Kelsey Grammar's performance.

For anyone who has not yet seen the mere two seasons that exist, allow me to inform you there is an extremely interesting twist in the plot! I don't think this will disappoint. How it was canceled with such a high IMDb rating remains a mystery.

Those who complain that this series was canceled don't understand that it wasn't supposed to be a continuing series. It was supposed to be Fitzgerald's greatest but unfinished novel, finished appropriately.

What they wound up adding to finish it was some typical Hollywood junk that Fitzgerald would never have written, that Stahr (or Thalberg) would never have produced. But it's pretty good junk, as Hollywood junk goes. The production is beautiful, the plot isn't too silly, and Kelsey Grammer's performance is great fun to watch. So I give it a 7, a good effort and well worth watching.

But it still should not have gone beyond its nine episodes. That wrapped up the plot and was the end. To go further would mean adding real Hollywood junk. The greatest skill is knowing when to stop.