An elderly couple at evening tea sets the stage for the book Afterglow. The book turns out to be as dreadful as the movies Francis Davis and Pauline Kael discuss. It might be the fact that Kael denounces not only Silence of the Lambs, Seinfield, and the Sopranos, but also Adam Sandler, and Chris Farley that her opinion is put in line behind your blind great aunt. Afterglow chronicles the life of one of films original critics that has a true passion for the art but a taste that does not line up.
Furthermore, Davis does a distractingly awful job at interviewing Kael and failed to capture incite into her life, instead listed sixty years of movies, a boar to read. What was the word she used oh, filmic. Assuming Davis wanted to relay feelings about Kael gives basis for the book, a structure or some idea might have been a nice back up. Little background knowledge is given to Kael’s life and much is left obscure. Wait, Kael had a daughter by a gay man?
Most books have a climax, a peak of interest that shocks or stuns the reader, Afterglow talked about Pennies from Heaven twelve times. Afterglow came as a true distress to read, as Pauline Kael seems genuinely interesting yet off key in opinion. The only thing worse were the questions presented by Davis. Maybe they can take a lesson from Seinfeld, when you write something about nothing at least try to make it funny!
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I agree that Davis did do a pretty bad job at interviewing her although Kael still sounds interesting. About being off the key, yes, some of her critics were arguable, however, I think, what's so great about her is that she has some backbone. She is honest and writes as she sees the movie without being influenced by other critics or the publisher much, maybe?
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