Moneywood: Hollywood in Its Last Age of Excess

Hollywood in the 1980s is often remembered as an age of excess: cocaine, flashy stars (Sylvester Stallone, Tom Cruise), and big-budget successes and flops (Top Gun, Ishtar). Here Stadiem (Too Rich: The High Life and Tragic Death of King Farouk) delves into the big money and behind-the-scenes extremes of the producers, directors, and screenwriters who shaped the over-the-top style that dominated mainstream culture during the decade. Stadiem, who has worked as a screenwriter and a columnist for industry magazine Interview, relishes rehashing the sea change Hollywood experienced when, fueled by huge surprise successes like Flashdance and Airplane!, a new wave of brash filmmakers took over. Gossipy, catty, and exhaustive, he seems to have the dirt on just about anyone who was anyone beyond the scenes. Unfortunately, the book suffers from a lack of compelling stories, either an overarching one or smaller ones. It reads more like a list of industry people the author knew, projects they worked on, and how they were connected with other industry people.