Praise for I'm Over All That
“The most revealing book of her career.
One-of-a-kind wit.
The legendary MacLaine will leave you laughing out loud while scratching your head with questions."
"Above the Line: My Wild Oats Adventure is MacLaine's funny new book about the near screwball comedy of errors making the film about a woman (MacLaine) who accidentally receives a life insurance check for $5 million instead of $50,000 and is persuaded by her friend (Lange) to keep the money and go to the Canary Islands...But Above the Line is about a lot more than filmmaking."
Praise for What If...
“Fun and thoughtful by turns and told in MacLaine’s fiesty, funny voice, this should appeal to fans and doubters alike.
"Above the Line: My Wild Oats Adventure is MacLaine's funny new book about the near screwball comedy of errors making the film about a woman (MacLaine) who accidentally receives a life insurance check for $5 million instead of $50,000 and is persuaded by her friend (Lange) to keep the money and go to the Canary Islands...But Above the Line is about a lot more than filmmaking."
03/01/2016
Award-winning actress MacLaine, most recently praised for her appearances in the television series Downton Abbey, has written ten books, mainly about otherworldly surrealistic speculations. This title includes those elements as she describes her involvement in a financially stressed, still unreleased film on a location in the Canary Islands, "remnants of the Lost Colony of Atlantis," playing an old lady owed a $900 check, who gets $900,000 instead, and takes off with a friend (played by Jessica Lange), to sow her wild oats in Las Vegas. In the title, "line" divides the filmmakers: management and cast above, crew below. Capricious surreal guru-toned speculation peppers the narrative and fills an extensive undocumented appendix of her "research." Two other voices also emerge: a crafty gossip publicizing the offscreen behaviors of cast, crew, and management, and a proud octogenarian celebrating her lifestyle: sharing her appearance-centered hair-and-makeup experiences, wise financial insights, buried-to-the-neck-in-sand dreams, and hang-by-the-neck-underwater ongoing therapy program with her current mentor. VERDICT For fans of MacLaine and behind-the-scenes Hollywood gossip.—Ann Fey, SUNY Rockland Community Coll., Suffern
This is an altogether convoluted recollection of an exceptional time in the recent past when actress MacLaine filmed WILD OATS in the Canary Islands. This independent film, which proceeded without clear-cut financing, is a jumping-off point for MacLaine’s reflections on distant past lives in this geographical region, which is generally believed to include the long-lost continent of Atlantis. MacLaine’s narration is a bit weak in volume, intonation, and organization, distinctly different from recent efforts. Additionally, the style of the writing could best be described as stream of consciousness. This is a disappointment because, despite fascinating insights into the financing of films today, MacLaine’s trademark sense of humor seems scarce, even absent. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
2015-12-06
The award-winning actress reflects on her latest film and her previous life. MacLaine, a talented woman who believes in reincarnation, is getting a lot out of this life. She's acted in more than 50 films and written 14 books, including this one. At 81, she's acting in another film and writing a book about it. Wild Oats (2016), a screwball comedy about an elderly woman (MacLaine) who mistakenly receives a very large social security check and decides to take her friend (Jessica Lange) on a lavish vacation, was over five years in the making and $500,000 in debt before it even started shooting in the Canary Islands, which some believed "were the remnants of Atlantis." After the musical chairs of finalizing actors and director and with funding somewhat secured, the cast was flown to the island's opulent Lopesan resort, and her "adventure" began. She writes in a jaunty, casual, daily diary style, providing affectionate portraits of her fellow actors: Billy Connolly (in one scene, "he made me laugh so hard, I nearly developed a herniated disk), Lange ("beautiful, intense, and a brilliant dramatic actress"), Demi Moore (sweet…and nervous"), and Howard Hesseman ("adorably funny")." MacLaine was constantly anxious about the ongoing efforts to raise funds, calling it "amateur hour," and at one point worried, "Why am I here? Are we going to shoot a movie…or ourselves?" However, it ended well: "It had all been worth it to me for so many reasons." The author's insider's portrait of the moviemaking world sparkles, but it's dimmer when she engages in her nNew aAge ruminations ("I feel that I am in alignment with my soul's destiny"). MacLaine is wickedly honest about moviemaking, sincere and enthusiastic in describing her beliefs, and welcoming in the skepticism of others—it's all refreshing and fun.
