Picture This - The Times of Peter Bogdanovich in Archer City, Texas (1992)

Sad but true

Despite the checkered backstory of "The Last Picture Show," this documentary about the making of the film is nowhere near as gripping and penetrating a look as George Hickenlooper's earlier film, "Hearts of Darkness," about "Apocalypse Now." Nevertheless, fans of "Picture Show" will still be pleased to see the cast and crew comment on that landmark movie.

There's a solid air of sadness as the principals (reassembled circa 1990 for the production of "Texasville" -- an impending critical and commercial failure) reflect on the original film and how it affected their lives. At first I felt the "Picture This" stacked the deck against Timothy Bottoms, who still seems extremely melancholy over his relationship with Cybill Shepherd, but at the end he's credited as a producer so I suppose he had no qualms over being depicted in such a candid way.

The opinions of the citizens of Archer City, Texas (which was the setting for both films and the birthplace of author Larry McMurtry, whose source novel caused some controversy in his hometown) weigh in both pro and con, but their interviews are just brief glances and we're rarely given much extended context on who they are.

And, as a minor technical quibble, the hazy clips of "The Last Picture Show" inserted here are transfered so badly, they appear to have been videotaped directly off the screen of an overheating 1973 Zenith console TV.

Overall, not essential viewing but, for serious fans of a modern classic it's interesting enough, especially at a relatively brief 57 minutes. January 9, 2008

Hickenlooper delivers another nice movie documentary

Picture this is a generally interesting documentary about the making of THE LAST PICTURE SHOW. The movie footage from the PICTURE SHOW and asks the townspeople about the experience of having a movie made in their small town, which is also the hometown of LAST PICTURE SHOW writer Larry McMurtury. It then interviews the cast and director, Peter Bogdanovich, about their experiences. It all happens during the making of the sequel, TEXASVILLE.

The movie only lasts about an hour, but there are some interesting moments. It was interesting that Timothy Bottoms admitted that he was in love with Cybil Shepherd during the first movie, and hasn't seen her since. It's also interesting to hear Bogdanovich and Set Designer Polly Platt talk about their marriage crumbling during the making of the first film. Bogdanovich got involved with Cybil, but Peter and Polly still had to work with one another to finish the film. Another interesting thing was the story of how Larry McMurtury was a loner and geek in high school and used his experiences to get back at his hometown in his novel.

It's not as good Hickenlooper's HEARTS OF DARKNESS, but no documentary on a movie is. May 30, 2003

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