The made-for-HBO doc
interviews not only the charismatic player, but his powerful friends, mostly from the “Ocean’s Eleven” franchise: George Clooney, Brad Pitt (whose beard is so disgusting, it looks matted), Ellen Barkin (who tears up) and even President Bush (the one-termer).
With talk of “Diner” and “The Karate Kid” to get to, the doc is not so interested in his pre-Hollywood years, other than establishing the strange relationship with his longtime wife, the performer Jane Morgan, of whom Jerry says, smiling like the Big Bad Wolf, “Jane and I worked together professionally for at least an hour and a half before we slept together.” Today, they’re still married, although he openly shares his heart and his genitals with his mistress. When he was first caught cheating, Jane’s response was not to divorce, but for him to just transfer $1 million to her bank account each time he strayed. Ah, the power of money!
(Aside: I don't want Jerry Weintraub's life, but I totally want his Palm Springs house. It's an architectural orgasm.)
Aside from a few choice anecdotes, like the removal of 5,000 seats from an arena for an Elvis Presley concert (long story), “His Way” isn’t rife with teachable moments — he sleeps with the radio on? Wow! — but it may be the only time you’ll hear the sentence, "'Pure Country' changed our relationship."
Again, completely unnecessary but a tad ingratiating. —Rod Lott
