John Erman's big screen debut explains why he never directed another theatrical release for 2 decades;1990s Stella starring Bette Midler. Making It, a dreadful film, practically dies on screen in the opening scene. The film has no pace, style, tone, atmosphere or rhythm; if feels like a TV sitcom on valium. The main character is played by a young, scrawny, charmless Kris Tabori whose character is merely a set of attitudes rather than a real person. The relationships are notably underdeveloped and unconvincing as are the film's shifts in tone. With a supporting cast made up of clichéd teens and clichéd over 30 failures, the film is neither funny nor dramatically sound. It's an amateurish film on every level. 20th Century Fox should have shelved this one though ultimately they buried it.

I originally wrote a very terse entry, because it is, after all, about what is supposed to be the shortest movie review in New Yorker history. But given the 10-line rule, I'll blather on for a moment. Perhaps this note will be my incentive to finally buy the CD collection of the entire history of The New Yorker, so that I can look up this review up and see if it is indeed apocryphal, which would be very much in keeping with the author of the novel on which the movie was based. Jim who would do anything to turn out a phrase that rapidly made a point.In any case, I took a course from James Leigh, who wrote the novel on which "Making It" was based. The novel's name was "What Can You Do?" According to Leigh, the New Yorker review in its entirety was: "'Making It' was based on the novel 'What Can You Do?' What you can do is not see it."

I recall seeing this movie when I was in the 9th grade when my best buddy and I went to a free showing. I liked the movie and actually went back and paid to see it a second time because I was fascinated by the character played by Kristoffer Tabori. I saw the movie again a few years later, in the late 70's, when it showed up at my college campus theater. The movie has it's comic moments, as well as some serious moments. In some ways the story was a bit ahead of it's time and is quite enjoyable to watch. I have been trying to find information regarding this movie for along time and finally tracked it down by coming across the actors name (Kristoffer Tabori). Does anyone know if it is available on VHS or DVD?

I had absolutely NO IDEA as to what to expect from this film, but I ended up pleasantly surprised. Much of the film is uneven, to be sure, but several fun moments and a strong performance from Kristoffer Tabori kept me interested. Then, towards the end, the film suddenly made a sharp turn towards drama, and yet it did not seem out of place. In fact, it was most certainly a memorable finale, as well as the best part of the movie. I suppose this film did get a little too silly at times, but the hit-and-miss comedy and superb dramatic conclusion make it well worth your time.