Going Through Splat

Going Through Splat: The Life and Work of Stewart Stern (Jon Ward, USA, 2005)

A documentary on the successes and failings of Stewart Stern, one of Hollywood’s most respected yet little known screenwriters, Going Through Splat is a pretty good study on not only an engaging character, but how Hollywood is only too eager to use up someone’s talents before artistically leaving him for dead.

Having written some of Hollywood’s most beloved films, including Rebel Without a Cause, Jon Ward paints a picture of a broken man, one who dropped out of Hollywood in his prime. Anecdotes are told to us by such heavyweights as Paul Newman, Sally Field, Dennis Hopper, and Stern himself and, while interesting, none of these testimonies really get to the (broken) heart of the matter – just why did Stern walk away? A painful war memory, under appreciation from colleagues and perhaps neurosis and depression gives us some insight, yet I was still left wanting more.

While Ward does not take us on the most direct route to understanding Stern, he nonetheless takes us on a scenic one, showing us how one caring man became just one more show-biz causality in the hills of Hollywood.

Review by:
Gary Porter