Date: 4th September 2000

Gere Says Hollywood Dumbs Down Movies.


Richard Gere on Friday accused Hollywood studio executives of adopting "a TV mentality" by increasingly turning out films meant to appeal to "the lowest common denominator to attract the largest audiences." Speaking at the 57th annual Venice Film Festival, where his latest film, Dr. T and the Women, directed by Robert Altman, is being screened, Gere also criticized the overall quality of screenwriting in films today. "The standard is very low," he said.

When a reporter asked Gere about the secret to his own success, he responded, "It's the hairspray." Meanwhile, critics attending the festival are complaining about the general quality of the fare. A critic for the London Daily Telegraph commented: "The opening film, Clint Eastwood's Space Cowboys, is affable enough, but ... it's simply not of the caliber to open a major festival; the sole purpose of having it as the opener seemed to be to lure Eastwood to Venice and bring a few stars along."

Source: Studio Briefing