The Kid Stays in the Picture (2002) - 8.5

An innovative documentary about Robert Evans, who had an incredible string of films to his credit in the ’70s when he worked as a producer for Paramount.  Using clever camerawork, archival footage, and Evans’s own narration, the filmmakers do a fine job illustrating his professional success, which included work on Love Story, Harold and Maude, Chinatown, and The Godfather.  His personal life also contained a number of poignant chapters, including his failed marriage to Ali McGraw, who left Evans for Steve McQueen, and his humiliating downfall after a drug conviction and a vaporous connection to a Hollywood murder.  After years in exile, Evans eventually returned to Paramount as a producer in the early ’90s, but his recent filmography provides the film’s sad closer: A career that started with Rosemary’s Baby now includes The Saint and How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days.