Cinephiles will find much to savor in Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever, a comprehensive, immensely entertaining biography by film critic Matt Singer. In meticulous detail, he probes the lives of the legendary film critics and newspaper rivals, whose opinions became as popular as the movies they reviewed in print--and, later, fervently debated on TV--from the 1970s to the late 1990s.
Throughout their partnership, Siskel and Ebert remained “mortal enemies. Each considered it an essential aspect of their job to beat the other: to write the best review, to land the biggest interview, to score the best scoops. And they took their jobs very seriously.” Despite their seriousness, David Letterman, who often hosted the duo on his late-night talk show, once remarked that their popular appeal was due to their honest, passionate debates, and how they broke “the stuffy traditions of old-fashioned print film criticism.” The trademark of Siskel and Ebert film reviewing was a simple thumbs-up or thumbs-down rating system.
Singer paints a fascinating portrait of the critics, sharing quotes
and stories of how their upbringings developed their personalities; their
respective roads to journalism and film criticism; and what they each brought
to the reviewing table--how their contentious relationship actually increased
their viewership. This thoroughly researched narrative makes a strong case that
Siskel and Ebert were, as Ebert once put it, true "film lovers" and
"fans." That innate passion is what led to their overwhelming,
two-thumbs-up success and their enduring appeal.
Opposable
Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever by
Matt Singer
Putnam (Penguin/Random House), $29 hardcover, 352p., 9780593540152
Publishing Date: October 24, 2023
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NOTE: This review is a reprint and is being posted with the permission of Shelf Awareness. To read this review on Shelf Awareness: Reader's Edition (October 27, 2023), link HERE
To read the longer form of this
review as published on Shelf Awareness for the Book Trade (September 1, 2023),
link HERE