Action!

April 21, 2003
In a letter accompanying the galley for this first novel by veteran Hollywood producer Cort, the publisher promises a story that gives insight into "how movies are really made." It doesn't quite live up to that promise. The novel
essentially follows the fortunes of one moviemaking family through most of the 20th century, across three generations, focusing primarily on the middle scion, AJ Jastrow, a pushy, nervy, cocksure producer whose career ranges from the post-WWII period to the millennium. Raised in the moral shadow of his father, Harry, a self-made man too decent for Hollywood, according to his wife ("I married a fucking moron"), AJ reluctantly enters the movie business following an aborted legal career. Making an early reputation in the new medium of television, AJ shifts to feature production via agenting, attempts a version of Apocalypse Now, suffers a stroke, recovers and founds his own studio with Japanese capital. Then there are the family subplots: his failed marriage to Steph, followed by remarriage to Steph after a 14-year hiatus; the doings of his dutiful daughter, Jess, his disastrous son, Ricky, and most of all, his mother, Maggie, whose malicious machinations against her son could earn her a spot on The Sopranos. The cast is multiplied by a host of celebrity cameos, including Bing Crosby (" 'I shot a seventy-seven at Bel Air yesterday and took Astaire for a C-note' "), Steve McQueen (" 'Let's get ripped' ") and Sam Kinison ("Sprawled across a king-size bed, Sam swamped two young women with his blubber"). But this avalanche of anecdotal scenery is so far-ranging, it can barely support its own weight. (July)Forecast:Studio execs may pick the book up for the long plane ride between New York and L.A., but general interest is likely to be less than overwhelming. 50,000 first printing; 6-city author tour.

July 1, 2003
This debut from the producer of such films as Mr. Holland's Opus and Runaway Bride follows second-generation movie producer AJ Jastrow as he swerves through life in Hollywood's fast lane. Abandoning law school to fulfill his late father's legacy by creating a movie-making empire to rival MGM, Paramount, and Universal, AJ caddies for David O. Selznick, stands in for Danny Kaye, serves as an agent for Steve McQueen, has a marriage-ending affair with Romy Schneider, and on and on. As his career dips and rises, his ego inflates commensurately, and he takes on all of the big-name boys in the corner offices. Nothing stands in the way of AJ's obsession, and he leaves his family, his health, and most of his real friends bobbing in his wake. Cort clearly knows a great deal about the history of the film industry; his rather predictable plot is so crammed with vignettes of studio big shots of the past half-century that the reader is left wishing for more plot and less name-dropping. Indeed, much of this book could have been left on the cutting-room floor. Perhaps Action! could have worked as a nonfiction expos, but it is not recommended as historical fiction.-Susan Clifford Braun, Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, CA

Copyright 2003 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2003
Like an "A" list of past and present film giants--Bing and Liz from Tinseltown's heyday, Cruise and Julia representing current flavors of the month--Cort's novel of backstage backbiting drops names as gratuitously as a tabloid reporter oozing across an opening-night red carpet. The prolific producer of such cinematic hits as " Mr. Holland's Opus "and " Runaway Bride," Cort is the ultimate Hollywood insider, trading on his privileged status to spin a multigenerational saga starring producer/entertainment empire-builder A. J. Jastrow. Ambitiously chronicling the 50 historically intense post-World War II years, Cort views both the world-at-large and the film industry microcosm through Jastrow's oft-jaded eyes for, like the movies he produces, Jastrow's life is rife with heroes and villains (many of them his relatives), chilling plot twists, and thrilling surprise endings. Granting the wish of every die-hard movie fan who has ever craved a 400-page edition of " Premiere" magazine, Cort dishes gossip with glee, offering both the titillating and the trivial in a sure-fire summer blockbuster.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2003, American Library Association.)