A Decade Under the Influence

Starring: Jack Nicholson, Francis Ford Coppola

RS: 3of 4 Stars

2003 Documentary

Here's a fireball documentary about the 1970s, when filmmakers were stoked by sex, drugs, rock and, oh, yeah, social conscience. Directors Richard LaGravenese and the late Ted Demme interview the likes of Scorsese, Coppola and Altman and show great clips, from M*A*S*H to Apocalypse Now. As Paul Schrader, who wrote Taxi Driver, points out, "The film business was a decadent, decaying, emptied whorehouse, and it had to be assaulted." Still does.

PETER TRAVERS
(May 2, 2003)