A Father... A Son... Once Upon a Time In Hollywood

Review By: Andrew Casertano
AndrewCasertano@TheCinemaSource.com

My dad was an actor and still is; although it’s been quite a long journey which started with him in a Hollywood feature film in 1980 when he began his career in his thirties. He had a nice role alongside Michelle Pheifer who was just making it herself, and all seemed to be going well as Anthony Casertano embarked the west coast dream.

Well you have never heard of his name for a reason; that was his big and only break, as student films have filled his resume to date. Maybe he let the fire burn out while it was lit or maybe he gave birth to me and has passed the torch or maybe Hollywood sucks. All I know is it was no Kirk & Michael Douglas epic tale; what I do know is I have the torch now and I will kick some Hollywood ass. For now here’s a review.

Kirk Douglas came from Russia with his family in 1910 and began acting some time after that. He went on to make more than a name for himself as he did dozens of movies and made a huge impact not only on screen but with the community as well.

Michael Douglas was of course his son and admits to being intimidated by his father’s character which was really strong as he revealed his dynamic performances on screen. It didn’t seem to affect him though as he too went on to star in many popular films with great performances.

This father and son duo reveal themselves in a very personal portrait as they eat together and even kiss each other on the lips a few times. And they don’t even make it seem uncomfortable.

They have a very loving relationship even at their age as Kirk seems to be hitting the 90 mark pretty soon. It’s rare you see this type of connection and for them to share it I thought would be nauseating as it is two Hollywood icons simply talking about themselves and their illustrious careers.

For me to watch this was tough as I have revealed my father/son story and wish it could be me; however these two come off as very real people not trying to convey good lives but rather documenting their true stories and how they got to where they are.

They have plenty of stories that are important to the history of film and will educate the topic. There were plenty of clips that were great to watch from classic films including interesting home footage.

With all that said, it’s still kind of boring to listen to their stories and after awhile I could care less of how they both got along and what brought them to this plateau of pinnacle success. It could have been broken down to the more important stuff as it stretched into a feature film.

Bonus ...