Roeper Makes A List
10 Sure Signs...by Richard Roeper
Richard Roeper is Roger Ebert's not-so-new-anymore partner and one of America's most influential film critics. His background includes stints at the New York Times and Chicago Sun Times. With his newfound television fame, readers should not be surprised that Roeper has already cashed in with a book that combines his film knowledge with the short attention span generated by news channel tickers, MTV jump-cut videos and USA Today.
Roeper's 10 Sure Signs A Movie Character Is Doomed is ultimately a swim in the shallow end of movie criticism. There are a few surprises, but the book's entire format rests on The Book of Lists format repopularized in the 1970s by Irving Wallace and his family.
This is not a book for the cinema buff, nor is it one that provides analysis and context. Roeper instead jumps from category to category, punctuating many of his selections with short paragraphs.
Some lists are extremely funny, especially the list that generated the title. Readers will also be treated to Joan River miscues (and who can resist being catty about the queen cat?), the best porn titles and a skewering of movies made by members of the Friends casts. I especially enjoyed the section on great movie perks, but there is more enjoyable information to be found on many web sites, especially The Smoking Gun.
Even the slowest readers will zip quickly through the entire book, and there isn't much value to re-reading. I certainly did not learn much, except for some cute trivia that I can throw out at a summer barbeque. Had Roeper shied away from making lists and written a short book with research, more detailed anecdotes and some context, the funniest and most interesting parts of the books could have been salvaged but placed in a more informative setting. Instead, 10 Sure Signs becomes the literary equivalent of cotton candy - tasty, but hardly filling.
The Bottom Line, Dog Earred Pages and All
Devotees of Entertainment Weekly and US will find an enjoyable read here. Indeed, most of the book reads like the sidebars both use for comic relief. Those looking for depth, however, would be better served turning to Leonard Maltin or Roger Ebert's collection of essays and criticism, The Great Movies.
