Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

I am not a scholar of filmmaking or a Robert Evans superfan. I didn't know who he was. I do enjoy watching good movies the way some people read good books - critically, thoughtfully, and with appreciation for the work that went into them. When I stumbled upon this movie, I thought I would gain some new fascinating insights into movie-making.Instead, the experience for me was analogous to the following: Imagine you are attending a fancy fundraising dinner full of rich strangers, or a fancy recruiting dinner for a big firm or company where you are interviewing. You are seated at the end of a table next to a man you have never met. Before you can tell him your name or learn his name, and without any further introduction of any sort, he simply begins talking, about himself, at length, without pause. You realize quickly that 1) he assumes you already know exactly who he is; 2) he assumes that you will find his stories absolutely fascinating and that he is bestowing a benevolent gift upon you by sharing these insider anecdotes with you; and 3) he is completely uninterested in the perspective or experiences of anyone else at the table, and has never entertained the thought that they have anything more meaningful to offer than what he is talking about right now. You are cornered. There is no one else near you at the table to talk to. You're not sure how much longer the event will last. You wonder how long you should let him go on before you just get up and leave. Eventually, the event simply ends, and you exit thinking, "Well it's unfortunate that the evening didn't turn out to be more pleasant." And that's how this movie proceeds, for over 90 merciless minutes. Robert Evans just keeps talking about himself, while grainy black and white photos flash on the screen.At first, I found it interesting, because this pompous blowhard was at least sharing little-known tidbits about some movies I had seen and enjoyed, and therefore I was learning something. But about a half hour in, that feeling went away, and I began to suspect I was not really learning much of anything.This is because I developed the sinking feeling that my narrator was unreliable. Every story is told solely from Evan's own perspective, and he features prominently as the most important and intelligent and visionary person in every one of them. It's not just that every movie he worked on was, dubiously, the Most Important Movie of Its Time. (Really? "Love Story"? Really??) It's also that, in every story, he is the key person who made a critical decision at some point that forever changed the course of the film's outcome. He is the one who made a critical casting decision, or convinced the director to make a critical editing decision, that shaped the entire film. He is the one who, in a single conversation, persuaded the star actress to finish the film instead of quitting. He is the one who plucked up a particular script and recognized it as exactly the story that America needed to hear at that time. And on and on it goes.So once I realized I couldn't trust anything he was saying, I was just waiting to see where it went. But there is nothing to help with the pacing. There is no plot or narrative arc to help you know where in the film you are. It just keeps going until it stops.I thought that a postscript at the end might contain quotes from others in the industry that would either corroborate or undermine Evans's own account of things, and help it all gel together as a documentary with a point of view or message. But it didn't.The only thing I learned here is that a guy named Robert Evans produced several movies I've seen, some of which I liked, and that man happens to have very, very high self-esteem.

Robert Evans stars in, narrates KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE - a documentary about the career of Mr. Evans.Mr. Evans' career in the entertainment business started with noted actress, Norma Shearer, asking Mr. Evans if he wanted to portray her husband, in an upcoming film.A story like this - a story like that of Mr. Evans' life, can only happen in one place; Hollywood.KID STAYS IN THE PICTURE follows Evans' career, and, just as promoting the products he's made, so does Mr. Evans deliver a documentary that's more public relations, than anything else.To tell one's own story inevitably means you're going to gloss over certain events, while building up others. For example, Mr. Evans' 7 marriages are barely mentioned, save for that to Ali McGraw.But, that glossing over 'details' can't really be held against him. The film business is all about illusions. While Mr. Evans has been involved with 'hits,' not all of them are of the high quality of GODFATHER. He also produced SLIVER. It did make money, but, no one would put these two projects in the same category.But, making a 'successful' picture means it made money - having it ALSO have good response is a bonus, but, not the major point of making a film.Mr. Evans is a beloved character, still, in Hollywood. With his square-framed glasses, his swept hair, Mr. Evans IS a character, both literally, and figuratively. He's a Sammy Glick. As the saying goes, there's no such thing as bad press, so goes this film. It comes off more as a CV - a reumé, than, an honest, fair, no-hole barred telling of Mr. Evans' business life. Even as the end-credits role, we're given an impression of Mr. Evans, by Dustin Hoffman, in which 'Bob' speaks in that oily, faux-charming way, that is such an image of what many believe to be a 'Hollywood insider.'Like any resumé, the film's last shot is of Mr. Evans' most current (at the time this film was made) projects financial standings.As long as you take this story with a bit of disbelief, it's harmless. The memories of a Hollywood player, filtered through ones own recollections.

This documentary, in which movie mogul Robert Evans narrates the story of his own life, begins with a quote from his book in which he declares that everyone has their own truth. The assertion is pertinent; for while his is an entertaining story, the film is limited by the fact that it lacks external perspective. Evans was a movie star who became an acclaimed producer; his reputation suffered after a cocaine bust; and then, bizarrely, crumbled after someone was murdered after an attempt to sell access to him ended disastrously. Evans was not personally involved in any of the dealings that led to this death; but his name was associated with the crime for the seven years it took to resolve, in which time his name crumbled to mud. He suffered mental health problems but returned to the business. This dramatic life story is certainly entertaining; but the absence of any take on events other than Evans's own is limiting, especially given his preference to narrate events as if he was Philip Marlowe. The "kid" knows how to tell a story; but whether it's the whole story is anyone's guess.

....is Robert Evans' balls clanking together. The man is simply a force of nature, and the film does a good job of telling his story. I'd recommend you also pick up the book--even better the audio version read by Evans himself--which covers a number of subjects that the book leaves out. The book gives more details about his relationship with Henry Kissenger, his marriage to Phylis George and the financial bath he took on the movie "Black Sunday". The book also goes into more detail on his friendship with Jack Nicholson. Evans is an American original. He's just a one-of-a-kind character, and the sort of maverick that today's business and formula driven Hollywood could use more of. Obviously the film (and the book) gives his life the spin he wants to put on it--like him taking credit for editing "The Godfather". To hear him tell the story, Coppola's original cut was unwatchable and it took his touch to make it into the classic it became. That's the nature of all autobiographies, though, and can't really be considered a flaw in the film (or the book). Anyway, I'm a sucker for films about the movie industry which made me like this even more. Just a very entertaining and well made movie about a fascinating individual.