Bragging For Gaston

Sometimes the trades engage in puffery and I don't know why, especially when it's so easy to look up the numbers.  For instance, I saw a recent feature saying how Shia LaBeouf is back.  The evidence?  The Peanut Butter Falcon and Honey Boy.  It's true the first title did reasonably well for a small film, and the latter is getting some decent attention, if not knocking people's socks off.  But is this a full-fledged comeback?  Hardly.

So look at this first paragraph in The Hollywood Reporter in a piece touting Gaston Pavlovich, producer of Scorsese's latest, The Irishman:

Gaston Pavlovich, a 51-year-old self-taught producer from northern Mexico, has enjoyed the kind of run that aspiring Hollywood filmmakers can only dream of.  In just seven years, he has worked alongside Jerry Lewis in Max Rose, Tom Hanks in A Hologram for the King and Mel Gibson in the biopic The Professor and the Madman.  And then in 2016, with a little luck on his side, he scored the opportunity of a lifetime to produce Martin Scorsese's religious saga Silence.

Now I'm not trying to put down Pavlovich--getting any films produced, much less several with big names attached, is a true accomplishment, and he should be proud.  But those titles aren't exactly a murderer's row.

--Max Rose was barely released, got poor reviews and made next to no money.

--A Hologram For The King got middling reviews and was a rare total flop for Hanks, grossing less than $10 million worldwide.

--The Professor And The Madman got terrible reviews, made very little money and hasn't even been released in the U.S. yet.

--Silence got good reviews, but with a decent budget and a solid cast, did very poorly at the box office.

Pavlovich is doing well for himself, no doubt.  But let's keep things in perspective.