With Nails
July 20th 2006 10:51
Richard E. Grant seems to have come to a summit in his film career at the moment. On the back of his acclaimed autobiography, 'The Wah Wah Diaries', he has made his directorial debut with the film version 'Wah-Wah'. Grant is a great character actor, full of manic energy and acidic detail but... I'm not sure how interesting a privelaged white upbringing in Swaziland would be to read about or watch. What I am sure of is that his first book - 'With Nails' - is certainly a lot of fun.
'With Nails' is more of a memoir than an autobiography... Grant publishes selected excerpts from his diaries on 9 or so films he has appeared in, and doesn't spare any embarressing details.
The big selling point for me is the opening chapter on 'Withnail and I', the film that vomited Grant to fame (and a personal favourite). Grant spends a lot of time on how he got the part, how the film got made, and the reactions his brilliant performance garnered. The next two films/chapters - on 'Warlock' and 'Henry and June' - are interesting in showing the insides of a b-movie and mediocre arty-drama respectively. The fourth section, on Steve Martin's 'L.A. Story', is hot stuff - showing the insides of Hollywood from an insider's point of view. Grant is unashamedly bitchy and as interested in celebrities as everyone else, and it makes for beautiful gossip-prose.
The next chapter is probably the crowning glory of the book... Grant appeared in 'Hudson Hawk', a famous megaflop if ever there was one, and his retelling of how much of a mess the making of this film was goes to show that they should've known all along they were making a turkey. The levels of ego-driven disaster that helped bomb this film to hell are amazing.
The remaining chapters follow Grant's supporting parts in the films 'Dracula', 'Age of Innocence', 'The Player' and 'Pret-A-Porter', and are just as full of interesting tidbits and possible slander as the rest of the book.
Grant is a fairly modest narrator in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. He has no delusions regarding his stature and standing in Hollywood, and he is always quick to bring himself back down to Earth. His parts are sometimes tiny, but he uses the opportunity to observe the acting and directorial elite in all their genius, craziness and egomania - and, thankfully, he's a good writer too. A talented guy.
WIth Nails
'With Nails' is more of a memoir than an autobiography... Grant publishes selected excerpts from his diaries on 9 or so films he has appeared in, and doesn't spare any embarressing details.
The big selling point for me is the opening chapter on 'Withnail and I', the film that vomited Grant to fame (and a personal favourite). Grant spends a lot of time on how he got the part, how the film got made, and the reactions his brilliant performance garnered. The next two films/chapters - on 'Warlock' and 'Henry and June' - are interesting in showing the insides of a b-movie and mediocre arty-drama respectively. The fourth section, on Steve Martin's 'L.A. Story', is hot stuff - showing the insides of Hollywood from an insider's point of view. Grant is unashamedly bitchy and as interested in celebrities as everyone else, and it makes for beautiful gossip-prose.
The next chapter is probably the crowning glory of the book... Grant appeared in 'Hudson Hawk', a famous megaflop if ever there was one, and his retelling of how much of a mess the making of this film was goes to show that they should've known all along they were making a turkey. The levels of ego-driven disaster that helped bomb this film to hell are amazing.
The remaining chapters follow Grant's supporting parts in the films 'Dracula', 'Age of Innocence', 'The Player' and 'Pret-A-Porter', and are just as full of interesting tidbits and possible slander as the rest of the book.
Grant is a fairly modest narrator in a tongue-in-cheek kind of way. He has no delusions regarding his stature and standing in Hollywood, and he is always quick to bring himself back down to Earth. His parts are sometimes tiny, but he uses the opportunity to observe the acting and directorial elite in all their genius, craziness and egomania - and, thankfully, he's a good writer too. A talented guy.
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