Martin Brest
Martin Brest (born August 8, 1951) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer.
Martin Brest | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 8, 1951 The Bronx, New York City, U.S. |
| Education | New York University (BFA) American Film Institute (MFA) |
| Occupation |
|
| Years active | 1972–2003 |
Notable work | Scent of a Woman Midnight Run Beverly Hills Cop Meet Joe Black Hot Tomorrows Hot Dogs for Gauguin Gigli Going in Style |
Education
Brest was born in the Bronx, New York, and graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1969, from New York University's School of the Arts in 1973 and from the AFI Conservatory with an M.F.A. degree in 1977.
Career
His major studio debut was Going in Style (1979), which starred George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg.[1] Brest was then hired to direct WarGames (1983), which starred Matthew Broderick, but he was fired during production and replaced with John Badham.[2]
Brest then directed Beverly Hills Cop (1984), starring Eddie Murphy.[3] The film grossed over $300 million worldwide[4] and received a Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Motion Picture – Comedy or Musical, as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Brest's next film was the action-comedy Midnight Run (1988), starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin.[5] The film was another critical and commercial success, earning Brest another Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy as well as a Best Actor Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy nomination for De Niro.
His work on Scent of a Woman (1992) earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. The film also won Golden Globes for Al Pacino and screenwriter Bo Goldman. In addition, the film got four Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Adapted), and Best Actor, with Al Pacino winning Best Actor.[6]
Brest's next film, Meet Joe Black (1998), starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins, was a remake of 1934's Death Takes a Holiday.[7] The film had an American box office return of $44.6 million, though it fared much better overseas, taking in an additional $98.3 million for a worldwide total of $142.9 million.[8]
Brest wrote and directed Gigli (2003), starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.[9] During filming, production company Revolution Studios took creative control from him, resulting in a radically re-written and re-shot version of the original film being released. It became one of the most notorious films of its time, with a scathing critical reception, some critics calling it one of the worst films of all time[10] and a disastrous box office performance. Brest has not written, directed, or produced a film since. A 2014 article in Playboy observed that he appeared to have left public life entirely after Gigli's release,[9] though in 2021, he appeared as a featured guest at a screening of Beverly Hills Cop and Midnight Run in Los Angeles, where he was interviewed by fellow filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.[11]
In 2009, his New York University student film, Hot Dogs for Gauguin, was one of 25 films chosen by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress to "be preserved as cultural, artistic and/or historical treasures".[12]
Filmography
| Year | Title | Director | Producer | Screenwriter | Editor | Actor | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1972 | Hot Dogs for Gauguin | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Man on Ferry | NYU student film |
| 1977 | Hot Tomorrows | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | American Film Institute | |
| 1979 | Going in Style | Yes | No | Yes | No | No | Directorial debut | |
| 1982 | Fast Times at Ridgemont High | No | No | No | No | Yes | Dr. Miller | |
| 1984 | Beverly Hills Cop | Yes | No | No | No | Yes | Clerk | Uncredited role |
| 1985 | Spies Like Us | No | No | No | No | Yes | Drive-In Security Guard | |
| 1988 | Midnight Run | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes | Airline Ticket Clerk | Uncredited role |
| 1992 | Scent of a Woman | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ||
| 1993 | Josh and S.A.M. | No | Yes | No | No | No | ||
| 1998 | Meet Joe Black | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | ||
| 2003 | Gigli | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | ||
Awards
References
- Canby, Vincent (December 25, 1979). "Movie: 3 Widowers Try 'Going in Style'". Retrieved October 8, 2018.
- Brown, Scott (July 21, 2008). "WarGames: A Look Back at the Film That Turned Geeks and Phreaks Into Stars". Wired.
- THR Staff (December 5, 2016). "'Beverly Hills Cop': THR's 1984 Review". The Hollywood Reporter.
- "Beverly Hills Cop". Box Office Mojo.
- Canby, Vincent (July 20, 1988). "REVIEW/FILM; DE NIRO AND GRODIN IN CROSS-COUNTRY CHASE". The New York Times.
- Idasetima, Courtney (December 23, 2017). "The Cast of 'Scent of a Woman,' Then and Now". The Hollywood Reporter.
- Maslin, Janet (November 13, 1998). "FILM REVIEW; When Death Comes to Call, Serve Peanut Butter". The New York Times.
- "Meet Joe Black". Box Office Mojo.
- Patches, Matt (December 19, 2014). "MARTIN BREST DIRECTED BEVERLY HILLS COP, MIDNIGHT RUN AND, YES, GIGLI. THEN HE VANISHED. WHY?". Playboy. Archived from the original on December 22, 2014.
- Cieply, Michael; Eller, Claudia (August 7, 2003). "A Battle-Scarred Revolution". Los Angeles Times.
- Saito, Stephen (July 26, 2021). ""Every Day Was Like, 'How Do We Pull This Off?'" Martin Brest on "Midnight Run"". Moveable Feast. Retrieved September 15, 2021.
- "Michael Jackson, the Muppets and Early Cinema Tapped for Preservation in 2009 Library of Congress National Film Registry". Library of Congress. December 30, 2009.