''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' (stylized on-screen as ''Burn Hollywood Burn'') is a 1997 American
mockumentary film
A mockumentary (a blend of ''mock'' and ''documentary''), fake documentary or docu-comedy is a type of film or television show depicting fictional events but presented as a documentary.
These productions are often used to analyze or comment on ...
directed by
Arthur Hiller, written by
Joe Eszterhas
József A. Eszterhás ( born November 23, 1944) is a Hungarian-American writer. He attended Ohio University. He wrote the screenplays for the films ''Flashdance'', '' Jagged Edge'', ''Basic Instinct'' and ''Showgirls''. His books include ''Americ ...
and starring
Eric Idle as a director unfortunately named
Alan Smithee, a traditional pseudonym used in Hollywood for directors disowning a project. The film follows Smithee as he steals the negatives to his latest film and goes on the run.
''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' was universally panned by critics and
tanked at the box office. It "won" five awards (including
Worst Picture
The Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture is an award given out at the annual Golden Raspberry Awards to the worst film of the past year. Over the 39 ceremonies that have taken place, there have been 202 films nominated for Worst Picture and 42 ...
) at the
19th Golden Raspberry Awards. The film's creation set off a chain of events which led the
Directors Guild of America
The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...
to officially discontinue the Alan Smithee credit in 2000 after its use for decades when an American director disavowed a film. The plot, about a director attempting to disown a film, ironically described the film's own production; Hiller requested that his name be removed after witnessing the final cut, and he is credited as Alan Smithee. ''Burn Hollywood Burn'' was also the final production of
Cinergi Pictures
Cinergi Pictures Inc. was an American independent film production company founded by Andrew G. Vajna in 1989, after he had sold his interest in his first production company, Carolco International Pictures. The company had a number of major hit ...
, which closed on the day of the film's American release.
Plot
Challenger Films producers Jerry Glover (
Richard Jeni
Richard John Colangelo (April 14, 1957[DOB according to Jeni's Website](_blank)
and Social Security Death Ind ...
) and James Edmunds (
Ryan O'Neal
Ryan O'Neal (born April 20, 1941) is an American actor and former boxer. He trained as an amateur boxer before beginning his career in acting in 1960. In 1964, he landed the role of Rodney Harrington on the ABC nighttime soap opera '' Peyton Pla ...
) hire acclaimed English editor Alan Smithee (
Eric Idle) to direct ''Trio'', a blockbuster action film starring
Sylvester Stallone,
Whoopi Goldberg
Caryn Elaine Johnson (born November 13, 1955), known professionally as Whoopi Goldberg (), is an American actor, comedian, author, and television personality.Kuchwara, Michael (AP Drama Writer)"Whoopi Goldberg: A One-Woman Character Parade". ' ...
, and
Jackie Chan
Fang Shilong (born 7 April 1954), known professionally in English as Jackie Chan and in Chinese as Cheng Long ( zh, c=成龍, j=Sing4 Lung4; "becoming the dragon"), is a Hong Kong actor, filmmaker, martial artist, and stuntman known for ...
. Though only hired due to his inexperience, which the producers believe will make him controllable, Smithee becomes invested in the project.
Edmunds makes frequent changes to the film, hiring many additional writers to retool the script and giving Smithee frequent notes during production. Between this and frequent interference from the film's stars, Smithee becomes withdrawn. Edmunds hires a
prostitute, Michelle Rafferty (
Leslie Stefanson) to seduce a drunken Smithee, who is in an unhappy marriage, so he can acquire blackmail material. Michelle is captivated by Smithee's kind spirit, and develops feelings for him.
Smithee realizes he has lost control over ''Trio'', and voices his concerns to Edmunds, who advises him to take his name off the film and use the
DGA pseudonym - which he cannot do, as it is also 'Alan Smithee.' After Stallone requests they cut one of Chan's lines in the film, Smithee offers to make the edit and drop the master off at the lab for duplication, instead stealing it and running away.
As Challenger instructs security foreman Sam Rizzo (
Harvey Weinstein
Harvey Weinstein (; born March 19, 1952) is an American former film producer and convicted sex offender. He and his brother, Bob Weinstein, co-founded the entertainment company Miramax, which produced several successful independent films includ ...
) to organize a search for Smithee, he calls into
Larry King
Larry King (born Lawrence Harvey Zeiger; November 19, 1933 – January 23, 2021) was an American television and radio host, whose awards included 2 Peabodys, an Emmy and 10 Cable ACE Awards. Over his career, he hosted over 50,000 interviews. ...
and, in the middle of a mental breakdown, announces his intention to burn the film so it may not be released. At a gas station, he is spotted by Stagger Lee (
Marcello Thedford
Marcello Thedford is an American film actor, television actor and power lifter known for his roles as Kelvin "Buffalo" James on the ESPN dramatic series ''Playmakers'', Semi in '' Employee of the Month'', and in eight episodes of '' ER'' as Leon, ...
), a member of the African American Guerilla Film Family, whom he quickly befriends. Smithee is put in touch with famed indie directors the Brothers brothers (
Coolio and
Chuck D), who relate to his plight and schedule a meeting with Glover and Edmunds to negotiate.
Glover offers the brothers a three-picture deal if they return the master as-is, but they refuse, insisting that Smithee be given
final cut on ''Trio''. Though claiming to accept this offer, Glover has Rizzo follow the brothers back to their house, where the police search for the master. Smithee exits through a back window and drives to the La Brea Tar Pits, where he finally burns the film as promised. He appears on Larry King again, in-person, to defend his actions, explaining that "they killed
'Trio'' I ended its suffering."
Attorney
Robert Shapiro negotiates for Smithee to be sent to a psychiatric hospital in England in lieu of criminal charges, as the King interview has led Smithee to be regarded as a hero by the public. Glover and Edmunds compete in a bidding war with producer Robert Evans to secure Smithee's life story for a film adaptation, which Smithee sells on the condition that the Brothers brothers direct with final cut. The producers decide that Smithee, with his newfound reputation, is now a valuable property, and offer him a film deal. At the hospital, Michelle reconciles with Smithee as he discusses plans for his new film, ''Duo.''
Cast
Cameos as themselves
Production
The film was written (and produced, though he was not credited for it) by
Joe Eszterhas
József A. Eszterhás ( born November 23, 1944) is a Hungarian-American writer. He attended Ohio University. He wrote the screenplays for the films ''Flashdance'', '' Jagged Edge'', ''Basic Instinct'' and ''Showgirls''. His books include ''Americ ...
, who became the first person to win four
Golden Raspberry awards for a single film: Worst Picture, Worst Screenplay and both Worst Supporting Actor and Worst New Star for a brief cameo appearance (he also received a co-nomination for the Worst Screen Couple award, since ''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' was nominated for "any two people appearing together onscreen"; although the movie did not "win" in this category). The released film credits the Alan Smithee pseudonym as director because
Arthur Hiller, the film's real director, objected to the way Eszterhas recut the film, and as a result, had his name removed. In his autobiography, ''Hollywood Animal'', Eszterhas claims that Hiller still sat in the editing room with him to make certain suggestions. In his entry on ''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' for his "My Year of Flops" column in ''
The A.V. Club
''The A.V. Club'' is an American online newspaper and entertainment website featuring reviews, interviews, and other articles that examine films, music, television, books, games, and other elements of pop-culture media. ''The A.V. Club'' was cre ...
'', pop culture critic
Nathan Rabin
Nathan Rabin (; born April 24, 1976) is an American film and music critic. Rabin was the first head writer for '' The A.V. Club'', a position he held until he left the ''Onion'' organization in 2013. sarcastically commented that Hiller's decision to use the Alan Smithee credit was "very transparently not a stupid, stupid gimmick to raise interest in a terrible film".
Reception
Box office
The film had an estimated budget of $10 million and grossed at least $52,850, as it was released in only 19 theaters.
Critical response
Film critic
Roger Ebert, reviewing for the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago ...
'', gave ''An Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn'' a score of zero stars, his lowest possible rating. The film was not merely bad but "incompetent", Ebert wrote, and also seemingly represented a lapse of judgment for Eszterhas who "is sometimes a good writer".
In 2005 Ebert included it on his list of most hated films.
The film holds a 7% rating on
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...
based on 41 reviews, with an average rating of 3.3/10. The site's critical consensus calls it "A witless Hollywood satire whose hammy, obvious jokes are neither funny nor insightful of the movie business."
Eric Idle himself said in various interviews meant to promote the film that "this is rather dreadful".
Accolades
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Alan Smithee Film: Burn Hollywood Burn, An
1997 films
American mockumentary films
1990s English-language films
Films directed by Arthur Hiller
Films credited to Alan Smithee
Films about Hollywood, Los Angeles
Films about film directors and producers
Films set in Kent
Films set in Los Angeles
Films shot in California
Films shot in Los Angeles
Incest in film
Cinergi Pictures films
Hollywood Pictures films
Films with screenplays by Joe Eszterhas
Golden Raspberry Award winning films
Films about filmmaking
1990s American films