THE IDOLMAKER
A film review by Beth Ravan
Copyright 1987 Beth Ravan
THE IDOLMAKER (1980) Directed by Taylor Hackford Starring Ray Sharkey, Tovah Feldshuh, Peter Gallagher
THE IDOLMAKER is a film about a songwriter who takes nobodies and turns them into singing idols during the late 1950s/early 1960s. (Supposedly, it's a fictionalized biography of Bob Marcucci, who presented us with Frankie Avalon and Fabian.) Ray Sharkey plays Vinnie, the songwriter, a driven man who has been struggling for years to get his songs heard. But he knows he doesn't have "the look" that sells, so he finds someone who does and grooms him to become the next teen idol.
His first attempt is a wild success, but he soon loses control of his prodigy and goes off to find another. Vinnie spends half his time wheeling and dealing to create an image and promote his new star, and the other half trying to teach the kid how to sing, how to move, how to support that image when he finally goes public.
Will Vinnie be able to do it again? Will his new star rebel too? And what about all the personal relationships that Vinnie's using and breaking in his drive to make it big? Check it out and see.
OK, this isn't a *great* film, but it is well-made and entertaining. The settings all worked, from the fish market where Vinnie gets some lessons in business from his high-rolling father, to the restaurant where he hangs out. And there's a charming sequence in a tiny apartment where he negotiates with an old woman for permission to take her 16-year-old grandson under his wing (to make him idol #2).
And the characterizations are all good. Sharkey's will be familiar to fans of CBS's WISEGUY; I don't know if this tough-but-vulnerable, charming-yet-driven character is all he can do, but he certainly does it to perfection. Oh, yes - and he sings pretty well, too!
My major beef is a minor quibble with the scenes of the "singing idols" doing their acts. While some of the performances felt like 1959, most definitely did not, and I found it a bit annoying. Still, overall, I'd recommend the film.
-beth ravan UUCP: ...!decwrl!xanadu.dec.com!ravan ARPA: ravan%xanadu.DEC@DECWRL.DEC.COM
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