The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece

Do you know what „sluglines“ are, what the „Swing Gang“ does on a movie set or what the code word „Anchors aweigh“ means to an actor? I didn’t. So this book teached me that the making of a multimillion-dollar superhero action movie is everything but a simple and straightforward proces. Who could better introduce amateurs like us into this „Carnival of Cardboard“ than a Hollywood superstar, actor, director and producer. Tom Hanks is famous for his passion for the art of telling a story (and his love of typewriters). But is he a convincing writer too? I myself am no fan of superheroe movies, but - different from what I thought - superpowers are not what the book actually is about. So you shouldn‘t expect a lot of of breathtaking action, instead, there is a serious and tragic family story in the background. As a tribute to the american World War II generation, Hanks portrays the life of a troubled former US Marine. First in a comic book this veteran, Robert „Bob“ Falls, turns into a fictional avenger („Firefall“), restless and heavily armed with a flame thrower. Meanwhile the main part of the book is dedicated to all the steps and creative choices necessary to convert the soldiers fate from the comic book into a blockbuster movie. Hanks puts a lot of effort into the detailed and authentic description of the various people involved: drivers, location scouts, assistants, actors, director and so on. He knows how to bring characters to life and he shows how important they all are for the sucess of the project. Consequently the secret stars of the story are complete newbies with minor roles in the film crew and the actual shooting of the movie. That‘s something I really liked about the book. Hanks has placed a QR code at the end of the text that gives us the chance to read the whole fictional screenplay (look out for the sluglines!) of Bill Johnson, the film director from the book. All this is sometimes lengthy and a bit technical but it’s also like watching a real movie in the making.