Review of The Sundance Kids

The Sundance Kids: How the Mavericks Took Back Hollywood by James Mottram

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


This would seem to be the definitive book on independent filmmaking from 1989's sex, lies, and videotape to the mid-2000s.Using Steven Soderbergh's prolific and varied body of work as the foundation for the Sundance movement, Mottram looks specifically at the works of "mavericks" like Paul Thomas Anderson, David Fincher, Spike Jonze, Alexander Payne, David O. Russell, Sofia Coppola, Kimberly Pierce and Wes Anderson to explore how the traditional Hollywood narratives have been upended. Of course, Mottram provides an extensive look at Quentin Tarantino's and Robert Rodriguez's works, as well. I especially enjoyed his examination of Charlie Kaufman and the screenwriting process. This book is a must-read for any contemporary film enthusiast.

The book is structured as a series of essays and articles framing each year's "class" from the Sundance Film Festival and the subsequent progression of each member. Soderbergh gets considerable focus as the "godfather" to these filmmakers by virtue of the splash that sex made in 1989. His career rises and falls and takes risks like none other, confirming the subjective nature of the movie business. Mottram is careful to note how Soderbergh's artistic endeavors seem to supercede the need for profits by the studios. It's fascinating how he shows that small films can, however, prove more lucrative than big-budget flicks.

This is the kind of work that makes one want to revisit each director's library of films, from Wes Anderson's The Royal Tenenbaums to Fincher's Panic Room; Payne's Election and About Schmidt to Russell's Three Kings; and everything by P. T. Anderson.

There are just two concerns of significance with this book. First, Mottram's apparent displeasure with the Motion Picture Academy awarding Oscars to some of the bravura acting performances at the expense of those found in films by the Sundance Kids. One cannot fault the Academy for those sleights without acknowledging the discourse regarding Hilary Swank's win (for her performance in Pierce's Boys Don't Cry) over Annette Bening's legendary work in American Beauty. Swank's performance was good, to be sure, but Mottram conveniently overlooks the fact that there have been a number of exceptional performances in independent and studio films alike.

My other complaint, however trivial, is that the Coen brothers are notably excluded from the majority of the book. There is simply a passing reference to The Man Who Wasn't There and little mention elsewhere, despite the fact that the Coens were arguably the most successful creators during the period covered in the book and certainly have provided a great deal of influence on the Sundance generation. These concerns aside, I would definitely select several sections of the book for use in a film studies class. For now, though, I will update my Netflix queue--I've got quite a few films to watch.



View all my reviews