Book Summary and Reviews of The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece by Tom Hanks

Reader Reviews

Write your own review

Gloria M

Like Being an Insider on a Movie Set!!
It is crystal clear that Tom Hanks loves movies. He loves acting, he loves the process, and most importantly he loves all the people involved with movies. "The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece" is a love letter to all the casts and crews, from the superstars to the extras and the directors to the gofers. It is also a gentle rebuke to those of us who say negative things about movies. Instead of panning and bad mouthing a movie, it is kinder to merely say something akin to "the film in question was not for me, but I certainly appreciate all the work that went into it."

Tom Hanks is a most excellent writer! I admit I was a bit skeptical as I opened the front cover and began to read, but this was based on my erroneous assumption that his first book, a collection of short stories sold only because of his fame (I have not read that one yet.) This is a well woven, intricate tale with fully fleshed out characters that you instantly become enraptured with. My personal favorites are Al Mac-Teer, Wren Lane and Ynez Gonzalez-Cruz, but I fully support you choosing your own dearest ones! With all of Hank's inside knowledge of the industry we are embedded in the backstage procedures and dramas and there are even actual comics!

Who will like this book? Everyone! The book actually feels heavier than usual hardcovers in my hands and the plot is equally dense and satisfying! I definitely will re-read it at some point and I look forward to Hanks' next novel!!

Cloggie Downunder

more than one string to his bow.
4.5?s
The Making Of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece is the first novel by award-winning American actor, film-maker and author, Tom Hanks. There are no prizes for guessing what the book is about. Freelance journalist and reviewer, Joe Shaw is invited by successful writer/director Bill Johnson to watch the process of a movie being made. He’s so enthralled, he decides to write a book.

Back in the post-war years, former WW2 marine, Bob Falls is the inspiration for his nephew, Robby Andersen’s comic about a flame thrower who saves his platoon from annihilation by the Japanese. Meanwhile, aspiring screenwriter Bill Johnson sends a script to agent Fred Schiller who teaches him how to polish his work to movie standard. Turns out they have a hit on their hands.

Many hit movies (and one flop) later, we watch Bill’s writing routine, and learn from what he draws inspiration, this time, a heroine who can’t sleep, one of the Ultra in Dynamo’s Agents Of Change series, and a flame-throwing ex-marine, from an old Kool Katz Komix comic. His interactions with his highly efficient Production Assistant, Al Mac-Teer set her on a path to find out who owns the rights. Eventually, Dynamo studios and the Hawkeye streaming service are collaborating with Bill to produce another Agents Of Change movie for streaming.

By the time the first days of filming are described, the massive coordination effort involved to bring it in on time and on budget will grip the reader as they follow the antics of the self-absorbed knucklehead who has scored the male lead role. His pretentiousness indicates that he clearly isn’t on the same page as the rest of them: Bill, his talented leading lady, Wren Lane the support actors and the crew. Do they let this guy derail the whole thing?

For each significant character, Hanks provides vignettes – if a vignette can be this detailed – giving each of them backstories and describing how they become part of the movie. By the end of 417 pages, you love each and every one, and wish you could spend more time with them.

Peppered throughout are interesting, informative, and often amusing footnotes, and illustrator R. Sikoryak provides three examples of Robby Anderson’s comics, two in full colour. “Interviews” with various cast and crew members add another perspective.

It must be obvious from the long list of credits at the end of each movie just how many people are involved in such an endeavour, but Hanks brings their roles to life, and demonstrates just how important each one’s contribution is. Hanks proves, once again, that he has more than one string to his bow.

Molly

The Making of Another Major Motion Picture Masterpiece Is A Mouthful of Ennui
The book's title, alone, is an undertaking, but wait until you try to read it.

Tom Hanks applies his impressive acting career to the page by birthing the story of a fictitious blockbuster. The writing is decent, laced with frequent alliteration, onomatopoeia, similes, and other figures of speech. However, one struggles to keep up with the ever-expanding cast of characters, whose descriptors and emails and text messages derailed the story and this reader's interest. On the plus side, the characters are vivid and fully fleshed out, and the reader gets an insider's view of Hollywood grit. One feels as though they are on set with the actors and crew, drawn into the script, makeup trailer, snooty food orders, long days, and cornucopia of human demeanors. Again, though, the characters just kept on coming. The stereotypes and tropes were heavily sprinkled throughout, and the reader starts to die a slow death from the many communication avenues utilized. Perhaps Tom Hanks is practicing his screenwriting? He has proven himself as a successful actor and filmmaker, but the jury's still out on his writing abilities.

Other books by Tom Hanks at BookBrowse