Coming to DVD and VOD tomorrow, Tuesday, June 2: SMILING THROUGH THE APOCALYPSE – ESQUIRE IN THE ’60S
Tom Hayes’ profile of his editor father had its world premiere at Palm Springs in 2013. Other fest play included Riverrun, Newport Beach, and Palm Beach.
Between 1963 and 1973, Harold Hayes put an indelible mark on Esquire magazine, most notably by championing the style that became known as New Journalism, wooing notable writers – as well as promising new talents – and giving them the creative freedom to incorporate fictional techniques into their non-fiction writing. His son’s film attempts to function both as a portrait of the editor that finally gives him his due and as a personal reflection of a father. Unfortunately, while he offers a steady stream of anecdotes from an impressive assemblage of interview subjects – from Tom Wolfe and Gay Talese to Nora Ephron and Gore Vidal – that speak to the elder Hayes’ savvy and innovative risk taking, the director fails to make any headway with the personal or familial, making the viewer wonder why he even bothered to include what little is here. This ill-fitting aspect, in addition to weak narration, weaker still enacted voice-over, and an irksome score, detracts from what’s otherwise a loose, diverting, but at times intriguing survey of the best the magazine had to offer under Hayes’ tenure.
what (not) to doc 