I used to know a guy who had dealings in Hollywood. He was an attorney and specialized in entertainment contracts. Beyond that I have no idea what he actually did for a living. He knew a lot of famous people and hung out at the trendy places. Movie stars and famous directors are the part of the iceberg we see. There’s a vast supporting structure under the waterline. He was a part of that world. Hollywood is a factory town and there are a lot of people working on the assembly lines.

This guy had a lot of good stories and gossip about famous people. The one thing he told me that I recall is that pure chance picks the stars. There are hundreds of people with the looks, talent and desire to be a bankable star. Dumb luck plucks a few out of the pile and makes them into household names. Dumb luck plucks even more and makes them working actors, who have a nice living playing bit parts.

I don’t know enough about Hollywood to know if it is true. I’ve seen bad acting so I know it takes some skill and practice to be good at acting. I suspect that once you get past the awful stage into the plausible stage, that’s enough. Kevin Costner and Keanu Reeves are not very good at acting and they make millions as super star actors. They just have a look that works for the roles popular in their era.

Anyway, I watched Wolf of Wall Street and I can’t help thinking that dumb luck really is what rules the business. The director is a famous guy with all sorts of great films to his credit. How did he make this god-awful piece of crap? How is it that a talented director made such a horrible film? Similarly, how did the actors, all famous, not see this turkey coming a mile away? They have people to read the scripts for them. These people are supposed to know a good script from a bad one.

Now, I may be the one with bad taste. I looked it up on Rotten Tomatoes and it got good reviews. I don’t get it. The acting was fine, but the story was so stupid and childish I wanted to run from the room screaming. It just looked like an excuse for everyone to have a bunch of hookers on the set running around naked. I like naked women as much as the next guy, but I don’t need movies to show me nudity. I can indulge that interest from a dozen PC’s I have around me all the time.

Anyway, the movie sucked.