A Fuller Life ***½ (2013, Samuel Fuller, James Franco, Jennifer Beals, Joe Dante, Tim Roth, Wim Wenders, Mark Hamill, Robert Carradine, Bill Duke) – Movie Review

A Fuller Life is a must-see documentary on the life and movies of maverick film director Sam Fuller, poignantly directed by his daughter Samantha, who bursts with curiosity and pride about her dad.

Friends and admirers of Sam are filmed in his study reading from his autobiography memoirs A Third Face. They start with James Franco reading the first segment Copy Boy, when Fuller gets his first newspaper job as a teen, and proceed via Joe Dante with the Sicily landings chapter, Tim Roth with the D-Day landings segment An Invitation to Hell and on to Wim Wenders with A River of Tears and Mark Hamill with The Big Red One. They’re strange bed-fellows, but sweet ones.

Also among the readers are Constance Towers, William Friedkin, Bill Duke, Monte Hellman, Buck Henry and James Toback. This format works well, by the way.

The film clips do exactly what they’re supposed to do – make you rush out to the DVD store to buy copies of Fuller’s movies, especially The Big Red One. the prints we see don’t look in great shape, so restorations seem needed for Fuller’s films, and a season of his work at the BFI.

Fuller died on October 30 1997, aged 85. This film makes you admire him even more than you thought you did. the only complaint is that it’s 80 minutes long and it could do with an extra half hour of such great movie memorabilia material. It’s nice to report that Marlene Dietrich emerges as a real good guy in one of Fuller’s stories.

© Derek Winnert 2015 Movie Review

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