‘Watch Me’ is the story behind the scenes of Anjelica Huston’s life in Hollywood diving right in at about age 25. That’s because yet again I failed to realize there was a first book. Oh well. I confess to mainly picking up this book because after flipping through it she references her work on Wes Anderson’s films which I love her in.
Unfortunately, while revealing plenty of intimate moments, especially her tumultuous years dating Jack Nicholson whom she was deeply in love with; the tone of the entire piece is much like Huston’s performances – aloof and mysterious. This is strange because Huston has no problem letting us see that she is actually a very emotional person, has had quite a lot of adventures, and has a good sense of humor about her misfortunes and misadventures. She loves solace, animals, the country and horses, cries easily and is somewhat insecure about herself – yet – there is still a professional detachment in all these details which can only come down to the fact that some people are meant to be authors and some aren’t.
This works well for a beach read, someone interested in a bit of the heyday of early Hollywood before excessive paparazzi and social media descended on the place and destroyed any privacy stars once had. Huston dutifully reports on most of her roles in tiny behind the scenes glimpses, but there is still little idea of knowing her personally. Which is okay I suppose. She can stay that alluring mysterious figure on film, probably one of those people better known in first person. I’m still going to go read the first book, it looks much more interesting. Stay tuned.