THE DREAM FACTORY IS NOW OPEN

Readers follow the increasingly deranged production of a Hollywood film headed by a notoriously troubled director.

Fashioned as a nonfiction account of a doomed Hollywood production, the novel focuses on the bizarre antics of Director (a famously problematic but talented man clearly fashioned after Stanley Kubrick) and the two married leads (stand-ins for Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise) starring in an 8-years-in-the-making movie based on an erotic novella entitled “Tre Noi” (“The Three of Us”). But as Writer soon discovers, updating the tale from 19th-century Italy to modern-day America proves more challenging than previously thought. Add to that the marital aggressions between Actor and Actress, copious drug use, and the tragic personal sacrifices Director makes in the name of art, and the entire production seems to be hurtling toward imminent disaster. While fictional, the novel incorporates occasional real-world happenings, such as the introduction of a Covid-like virus that is rumored to be spreading. Readers are also introduced to various real-life film-making insights, including insider slang (“NG” as shorthand for “No Good,” for example) and the sheer number of people need to make a production work. Strick’s deep dive into an ill-fated film reflects a love for movies that hardcore film buffs may enjoy tackling. Unfortunately, stilted dialogue (“Cut to the chase, bitch”) and a lack of any character development combine to create a cast of caricatures (the eccentric director, the beleaguered writer, etc.). This point is driven home by the fact that nearly all characters don’t have names, just designations (Agent, Assistant, etc.)—a choice that also makes the narrative particularly choppy: “CAMERA slowly PANS the COURTROOM, past the TWELVE attentive JURORS (and one ALTERNATE) to the SPECTATORS and INTERESTED PARTIES in attendance. OVER, we HEAR the OFFSCREEN VOICE of a MAN whom our movie audience will recognize as belonging to ACTOR.” The novel, while often clever, ultimately reads as both a parody and homage to filmmaking without actually landing on either one.

An entertaining but disjointed send-up of Hollywood shenanigans and clichés.