The Last Movie Stars
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I cannot, for the life of me, nail down the audience for this series.
We see Bobby Kennedy making a speech and then a group of people looking panicked.
Is this a scene from the site of Bobby Kennedys assassination?
Stick to Facts, sir!
(Thomas Gradgrind is not a hero, but he would be if he were making a documentary.)
This continues when referring to Paul and Joannes personal lives.
The documentary devotes substantive time to none of these except the difficult relationship.
For that, we see extensive scenes from the movieWinning(has anyone seenWinning?).
We get a slightly more concrete mention of Pauls functional alcoholism but the barest glance at his apparent adultery.
As a person who needs things very clearly spelled out, I object.
Hawke is delighted by scenes fromCool Hand LukeandThe Stingand gushes about them to Sam Rockwell.
Rockwell thinksCool Hand Lukeis the quintessential Paul Newman performance, which seems to track with its fame.
InCool Hand Luke, Luke is a prisoner?
Ethan Hawke, you have been on enough late-night shows that you know how to set up a clip.
Amid scenes from these better-known films, Pauls children and ex-wife Jackie discuss his inscrutable persona.
Jackie never saw him cry during their marriage.
It could be both, I suppose, but which is more the truth?
Its hard to fall in love with Paul Newman through the series when its unclear who he is.
One driver of this confusion could be the significant part Joanne and Pauls children play in the narrative.
Joannes blunt honesty provides glimpses, though.
In an earlier moment, we learn that Joannes stepdaughter Stephanie has an arm tattoo of Joannes name.
In a moment that feels both hilarious and tragic, we get the other side of the hamburger/steak quote.
When asked byPlayboyabout cheating, Paul famously said, I have steak at home.
Why should I go out for hamburger?
It seems like a great line, and maybe it is.
A fair point, Joanne Woodward.
Theres also the extremely glancing reference to Paul having at least one affair.
While United Artists has gone through many iterations, First Artistsshut down in 1980and was sold.
As Stephanie Newman quotes her dad saying, if youre going to crash, crash decisively.
We end this section in the early 70s, less than 20 years into a 50-year marriage.
