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Last we heard from Tom Shadyac, he’d captained the first giant flop of a mostly hit-filled resume, with the bloated Noah’s Ark pic Evan Almighty. That led to his exit from the Universal lot where he generated such blockbusters as Bruce Almighty, Liar Liar, Patch Adams and The Nutty Professor. Turns out, Shadyac has been quite busy. Mark Urman’s Paladin has made a deal to release I Am, a first person documentary that Shadyac directed that chronicles his unusual journey of self-discovery. Urman plans a February, 2011 release. The pic begins after a cycling accident left Shadyac with a concussion that didn’t go away for months. It left him disoriented and unable to work or do much of anything but reflect on his life. By the time he came out of it, Shadyac was ready to throw away the trappings of his A-list life for something more fulfilling. After a slow recovery, Shadyac sold his house, moved to a mobile home community and tried to start over. His metamorphosis is the subject of the film, which includes meetings with the likes of Noam Chomsky and Archbishop Desmond Tutu. Shadyac directed the film and appears on camera. He’ll take the film through the festival circuit, starting with this week’s Hampton Film Festival, and tour college campuses throughout the country. “It’s a very visual film, not a talking head movie and it got me thinking a lot about my own life,” Urman said. “He speaks to all these people who seem to have answers about mind-body-spirit issues, and they speak to us through him. He’ll tell them he’s the guy who made Ace Ventura, and most of them never heard of it. Tom is personally living his life differently, and while there’s no reason to think he won’t have a full and varied career after this, he has changed.” CAA, which continues to rep him, brokered the distribution deal.
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I would lump Shadyac’s awful 2002 film Dragonfly firmly in the “flop” category as well – a horrible script and nil box office.
Tom’s always been nuts. Here’s more evidence.
Sorry to hear that one persons opinion could produce so much criticism from what it seems, jealousy. The man is a success and a well known director in the US and abroad. I hope that if he has harmed you in any way an apology will come if he reads these post and feels one is appropriate. I hope you will look past your emotional feelings and comment on the subject of the movie. Not your view of his intent, because it is clearly to make a change for the better.
Tom Shadyac . . . the man who publicly blamed everyone for the failure of EVAN ALMIGHTY but himself and then got booted off the lot. I seriously hope that he’s a changed man and this doc isn’t just about image adjustment. In either case, I don’t think anyone REALLY gives enough of a shit about him to sit through a 90 minute documentary on the subject.
The film is very moving and powerful. I wouldn’t knock it until I tried it and I think the standing ovation givers compromising the lucky few of us who have seen it would concur.
Thing is, viewers have to care enough about Shadyac to want to see the film in the first place, and this smacks of pure vanity at best. I’ll pass, thanks, which is what I should have done on the films of his I unfortunately had to sit through.
Tom’s a great guy. Excited about the movie!
I’ve been regularly working in the biz for 15 years, and I’ve worked with some amazing people, and some terrible ones.
I can say without any hyperbole or added drama, that Tom is the worst person I’ve ever had the misfortune of working with.
Holier-than-thou, arrogant, and capable of cruelty, all while wearing the sheep’s clothing of this “born-again-nice-guy”.
I hope the head injury knocked some true humility into him.
It’s really sad when a person who knows someone is down whether it be an accident whether it be just life. that you pounce on someone to make things even worse. Perhaps you are experiencing your perfection and knowing that you have never made a mistake, that you have to take it out on others. Just shows your stupidity. This may not have been Tom’s greatest documentary, but give the guy a break.
So let me get this straight, another egomaniacle hack talentless studio director who treats people like crap, makes horrid films that loses everyone money, has a sudden epiphany and realizes there’s more to life than his A-List/people-only-sucking-up-to-him-cause-they-want-to-get-ahead life, so instead of using this as a personal life change, he decides to film it to show everyone how great of a person he is now.
Yeah, sure Tom, that’s not egomaniacle at all :-0
How do we know this isn’t another I’M NOT HERE, but instead of going downhill, he’s trying to show himself going uphill, hoping it will be his comeback movie?
“Hack talentless studio director” who makes “horrid films?” I challenge you to find a movie made in the last 16 years that’s funnier than “Ace Ventura.” But then again, you seem like the kind of person who probably found “A Prairie Home Companion” “amusing.”
“The Hangover”. Took me about 5 seconds to think of something funnier than AV. I could think of more, too.
Patch Adams was pretty damn hilarious.
But not in the way they intended.
>>I challenge you to find a movie made in the last 16 years that’s funnier than “Ace Ventura.”
Your post is funnier than “Ace Ventura.”
ROFL.
Don’t know the guy but know the sport, cycling in LA. I hope he’s recovered from a bad accident that could happen to anybody. As with any significant downtime, I’m sure he evaluated his life and the film may be worth a look. Off topic but important: cyclists, ride carefully and follow rules! motorists, thank you for considering us!
It’s encouraging to have such a successful (made a star out of Carey and ‘Bruce’ is still a huge comedy) director make a film about answering important questions. Tom’s a decent guy. I want to see what he has to say.
Another Hack and ripsnorter: you guys should start a site or something to review movies you haven’t seen. You can speculate about the intentions of the filmmaker, but and wait for it, the great thing is that you never see the movie!
That is a brilliant idea! But in this case it is not about reviewing the movie, it is about Shadyac’s motivation for making it, and if this doesn’t reek of me, myself, I, what does? And even if Shadyac’s motivation is to bring nothing but 100% humility to humanity, somebody still has to sell/market the thing, and that means getting the $ from people who have never heard of the guy and then need to be persuaded they should listen to him.
I have no connection to the guy but I’ve seen the film and it’s pretty amazing. A real genuine conversation starter. Whatever the guy may have been in the past, he is that no longer. Perfect? No. But it’s a truly brave film.
I quit cycling in LA after I was almost killed by a Paramedic Truck. One of the extended mirror on the side missed by at least 1/8 of an inch. I took it as a sign.
I know nothing about Tom Shadyac. The only film of his that I have watched is Liar Liar. The next Shadyac film that I will see will be I Am. Looking forward to it.
Come on this is of course a vanity piece and a vanity release. i mean he must be paying for the release himself as everyone knows Mark Urman has no backing and everything he releases is on a for hire basis.
I’ve seen the film and its an important message, regardless of your personal beliefs about Shadyac, especially for Hollywood’s movers and shakers.
I think everyone will agree that Gary Busey needed a second coming.
Tom, like all of us, is a complicated person who’s neither an angel or a devil. I can tell you that the struggles he’s faced in the last couple of years have been very real. Why should it surprise anyone or seem suspect that a person who has spent their life making film would choose to relate his journey… on film?
Hey trolls, think about what others might post about you before you try to wrap someone’s life up into a couple of pithy sentences.
Saw the film at USC. It’s not about Tom or his personal conversion. That’s just the jumping off point to take a look at the state of the world today, questioning what true happiness is, and whether it takes money or relationships to find it. I don’t know Tom personally but the movie has had us talking since the screening.
Here I pick up my “film-heretic” label again: Evan Almighty was a very sweet film.
Not perfect by any means, but it had heart and was trying to say something. And it had some very funny moments.
Tom Shadyac is a good guy. I had the pleasure of working with him on the Universal lot. He always had the best intentions no matter people may say here in this thread. C’mon tell me Liar, Liar, Ace Ventura, Patch Adams, and Bruce Almighty weren’t good entertainment, I dare you! So he’s no Scorcese, so what…
Tom did a lot of good for a lot of people. HIs charitable contributions probably went largely unnoticed by most of the vapid folks in Hollywood.
Okay, I’ll say it. Patch Adams and Bruce Almighty were NOT good entertainment, and for the most part, I thought Ace Ventura was not, as well. Both Patch Adams and Bruce Almighty were syrupy and preachy as hell and made me groan more than anything. I’d heard good things about Ace Ventura, but was disappointed. Carey did make me laugh a couple of times, but that was him, not the movie. I did like Liar, Liar, though.
i think this kind of reawakening-made-public is the exact kind of retarded egotism that joaquin phoenix just skewered. waytago!
And as for rampant egotism on screen, surely it can’t reach the heights of the Barbara Streisand self-love fest, “The Mirror Has Two Faces.” The scene where she, the butterfly emerging from her cocoon, is being ogled by students 40 years her junior and she announces, “Yes, I have breasts!”…I doubt anything Shadyac has put onscreen in his documentary matches that for sheer gag-induction.
I’ve sat in a meeting or two with Tom and have bumped into him at Telluride. Whether or not his movies are good is personal taste. All sorts of people around world have enjoyed them. The guy accomplished a lot in Hollywood and afforded himself the opportunity to get out of dodge, and wasn’t afraid to do it. He doesn’t give a )(*&&% what anyone back in dodge is writing about him or interested in seeing his new film. He’s taking it around to schools, not studios. He was the sexiest producer on the lot and this only makes him sexier.
I’ve had the opportunity to see this film. It is both thought provoking and insightful. As usual, many of the comments on this site are negative and destructive. Oddly enough, these are precisely the type of individuals who NEED to see this film.
I’ve been blessed to work with and learn from Shadyac. Tom is a charismatic and talented man. He’s very honest when working with talent (and sometimes honesty hurts), but I never heard him express himself in a deliberately cruel or thoughtless manner. He’s always been a deep thinker and very spiritual man so it doesn’t surprise me he would take the opportunity to turn his personal struggles into a motivational film.
I can’t wait to see and learn from this film.
I saw the sreening last night and have to say, in spite of wht you think about the man, see it. To me, he’s just the vehicle to bring awareness back to people. Look at the state of of the world. Helloooo??We’re kiling and stepping all over each other. The film is about changing who we are and what’s important in life. It’s obviously not the “stuff” and the bling. Open your eyes.