In this streaming tip on Amazon Prime Video, 1930s Hollywood unfolds with its very own dangerous charm – because power struggles rage beneath the glittering surface.
The Last Tycoon offers an intense insight into the supposed dream factory against the backdrop of the dark 1930s. A brutal story about the power games behind the scenes, in which every character is pushed to their limits.
This is what The Last Tycoon on Amazon Prime Video is about
The USA in the 1930s: a time of prejudice, violence and power games, which also does not pass by Hollywood. Monroe Stahr (Matt Bomer) is a film producer who has to strike a balance between artistic self-realization and success.
Pat Brady (Kelsey Grammer) is responsible for keeping his film production company afloat – for which he, whether he likes it or not, relies on the Monroe Stahrs of this world. His daughter Cecilia (Lily Collins), on the other hand, wants to set up her own production company.
Hollywood – and we are right in the middle of it
With The Last Tycoon, screenwriter and director Billy Ray (The Hunger Games, Captain Philipps) has taken on the unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald – and created an exciting reimagining.
The miniseries focuses on the question of what power means in Hollywood in nine episodes. Ray manages to explore this question in very different ways through his characters, creating a frightening picture of the film world of the 1930s.
The Last Tycoon manages without false glamour
The Hollywood dream factory is, of course, the backdrop for the protagonists’ dreams. Be it Pat’s desperate efforts to keep his company afloat, Monroe’s longing for his deceased wife, or Cecilia’s fantasies of a future at Monroe’s side – they are all mercilessly scrutinized.
The series manages without false glamour and glosses over nothing. As much as we grow fond of the characters, we also know from the outset that many of their efforts are doomed to failure.
Matt Bomer’s (White Collar, Fellow Travelers) performance as a restless visionary is as touching as Lily Collins’ (Love, Rosie, Emily in Paris) performance as an ambitious artist who finally wants to step out of her father’s shadow.
In just nine episodes, The Last Tycoon succeeds in drawing its audience into a dark and compelling maelstrom that never lets go.
