Review: Never Apologize DVD

STUDIO: Warner | DIRECTOR: Mike Kaplan | CAST: Malcolm McDowell
RELEASE DATE: 5/31/2011 | PRICE: DVD $19.97
BONUSES: none
SPECS: NR | 111 min. | Documentary | 1.33:1 fullscreen | Dolby Digital 5.1
RATINGS (out of 5): Movie� | Audio� | Video� | Overall

Malcolm McDowell salutes director Lindsay Anderson in Never Apologize.

Warner Home Video presents Never Apologize, a film of a live performance of Malcolm McDowell’s (A Clockwork Orange) 2007 one-man show centering on his relationship with his mentor, British movie director Lindsay Anderson.

The show consists of McDowell talking about Anderson and reading from his memoirs, with a few clips and stills thrown in for good measure.

Never Apologize serves as a solid primer on Anderson’s fascinating career. After a stint as a critic, working in the theatre and helming a bunch of documentaries, Anderson scored an Oscar-nominated triumph with his feature film directorial debut, The Sporting Life (1963). Then, in 1969, If…, his second feature, caused a sensation, capturing the rebellious zeitgeist of the era and launching McDowell’s film career. (That summer, I walked around town wearing a pair of goggles like the ones McDowell wore in If…, even though I could barely seen out of them.)

They made two more films together in which, like If…, McDowell played a character named Mick Travis: 1973’s picaresque, surreal O Lucky Man (based on an idea by the actor) and the social satire Britannia Hospital (1982). Anderson’s final movie was The Whales of August, starring “The Duse” (Lillian Gish, Broken Blossoms) and “The Bernhardt” (Bette Davis, All About Eve) of the cinema and featuring McDowell’s former wife Mary Steenburgen (Elf).

The actor is, thus, uniquely positioned to tell Anderson’s story. This he does with wit and charm, relating discreet anecdotes of Rachel Roberts, John Gielgud, Ralph Richardson, Richard Harris and even Princess Diana. All of this goes down smoothly, like a double malted scotch shared with an affable storyteller. But for the true anarchic force of Anderson/McDowell, pop in If… and O Lucky Man.