With Nails

Starred review from February 2, 1998
"I have often felt that movies operate along the lines of a medieval court, with despots, divas and duckbrains," observes actor Grant, offering up his diaries to prove his own adage. The star of the cult classic Withnail and I (his first film role), Grant allows readers to experience the idiosyncratic working methods of directors Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola and Martin Scorsese, among others, while taking them on a tour through his films from L.A. Story and The Player to The Age of Innocence and Bram Stoker's Dracula, concluding with the movie that made him a real star with his small daughter: Spice World, starring the Spice Girls. In what may be the book's most hilarious and horrifying depiction of a movie run amok, Grant describes in detail the experience of working on the megabomb Hudson Hawk. Everything comes under Grant's withering gaze--from star Bruce Willis to egomaniacal producer Joel Silver to a revolving door of leading ladies. He also recounts an uneasy evening with actress-comedienne Sandra Bernhard and Madonna, first at the superstar's mansion (with boy toy in background), then on the town. Unlike many performers who put out ghost-written, ego-driven autobiographies, Grant is a skilled and entertaining writer on his own. His book is a biting and wonderfully funny look at the movie business by an actor who is as clear-eyed and observant about himself as he is about the craziness surrounding him. 14 b&w photos. (June).