Newman's Own Words: Ethan Hawke doc explores Newman and Woodward
Series is heavy on Paul, with some weird/goofy/cringey touches
HARK!
I hear…a legend being blown up…
In examining the life and times of the movie icon Paul Newman–and, to a secondary but still important degree, his wife Joanne Woodward–current movie star and occasional director Ethan Hawke alternately blows up legends…and puts them back together.
Blissful celebrity marriage?
Ha!
Caring family man, as per the persona?
Aaaa…not so much.
Perfect Hollywood life?
Far from it.
If you weren’t really paying attention to Newman’s extraordinarily long, multi-faceted career–movie star, of course, but also director, race car driver, activist, businessman and philanthropist–you might think this guy was pure as the driven snow.
Nope, we are continually told by Hawke’s entertaining and provocative but at times almost excruciatingly-long, six-part documentary titled The Last Movie Stars, streaming on HBO Max (click here for the trailer). What emerges is a (perhaps intentionally) distant father, philandering (though we thankfully don’t get the details) husband, often-distracted actor…and functioning alcoholic.
His wife, for instance, left him over his nonstop drinking, and only took him back when he agreed to quit “hard alcohol.” He negotiated beer.
Another director might have dug deeper into this, but Hawke clearly idolizes the macho cool Newman (and, though to a lesser degree, Woodward), seeming afraid to tarnish one of Hollywood’s heretofore unblemished idols. Factor in Hawke’s closeness with the family, who gave him access to a trove of material and interviews, and you have a somewhat dubious project that, if there was one, likely would not be passed by a panel of expert documentarians.
Indeed, a portion of the documentary is ripe for Saturday Night Live mockery: Hawke casts several of his acting buddies in voiceover roles and intersperses Zoom interviews with them. Hawke (unintentionally) hilariously shows up in different slacker-pandemic outfits, only outdone by Sam Rockwell, who apparently lost his comb and/or just rolled out of bed for his Zooms with Hawke. Movies stars, these days--almost makes you pine for the dapper elegance of Newman's era...
A very casual Sam Rockwelll, on The Last Movie Stars, streaming on HBO Mas.
Director Ethan Hawke Zoom chats with actor friends during The Last Movie Stars, streaming on HBO Max.
Rather than insightful, the actor-chat is silly and worshipful, marveling at how cool Newman was–along with admiration for Woodward’s acting approach and technique. Then there are some should-have-been cut moments, such as Vincent D'Onofrio showing how to cry on demand.
Current movie stars discuss "The Last Movie Stars." Photos: HBO Max/CNN Films.
Contemporary actors doing voiceovers taken from interview transcripts are the meat of the Hawke project; Newman planned either a biography or autobiography and had writer Stewart Stern do audio interviews of Newman’s first wife, as well as celebrity friends Gore Vidal, Robert Redford, various directors and Newman himself. For reasons he never revealed, Newman burned the mound of cassette tapes–but not transcripts of the interviews.
This allows Hawke to recreate them, with George Clooney voicing Newman and Laura Linney taking on Woodward. Hawke frequently fuses the voiceovers with movie clips, weaving their personal stories with their movie careers; at one point, Newman hauntingly talks about how he feels like he has become a conglomeration of his roles. It’s a spooky, “who am I?” moment of existential anguish.
Unlike the airbrushed version, Newman and Woodward had a rocky, often-heated marriage; yet, somehow, despite betrayals, egos and tragedies (most notably, Newman’s son Scott dying by overdose as a young man) they remained together for decades, with Woodward there at Newman’s deathbed.
Woodward, diagnosed with Alzheimer’s shortly after Newman was diagnosed with terminal cancer, was not interviewed, and the words of her grandson suggest she is in advanced stages of the disease.
The project description: “The Last Movie Stars is a six-part documentary from CNN Films and HBO Max that chronicles Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward's iconic careers and decades-long partnership. Director Ethan Hawke brings life and color to this definitive history of their dedication to their art, philanthropy, and each other.”