Lions Gate and StudioCanal’s international hit film Gossip Cop starring Robert Pattinson premiered last night at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. The film is based on the true story of gossip journalist Victoria Clarke and her crusade to expose the truth about celebrities.
The film centres on Clarke (Pattinson), an alcoholic and promiscuous reporter who struggles to balance her professional and personal life. Clarke is fired from her job and subsequently struggles to make ends meet. When a corrupt publicist (Emma Watson) offers her a new opportunity, she sees it as a last-ditch effort to save her journalistic career. She accepts the position of publicist in chief at a gossip magazine and sets out to reform the industry.
The Daily Mail’s Rebecca Powell was at the Toronto Film Festival to give the verdict on the hotly-tipped film. She said: “I would say if you’re going to see this, go in with low expectations. Expectations can be really, really high and then when the film disappoints you a little, it can feel like a huge let down. I would say go in with your eyes open, not your heart.”
Rebecca added: “This is a very, very, very funny film. It’s one of the most unique and original comedies that I have seen in a very long time. It’s absolutely hysterical at times.”
Pattinson also took time out from promoting his new film to offer a scathing review of the Toronto Film Festival’s red-carpet treatment of him.
He said: “I saw dozens of photographers and I was, like, ‘What the hell is going on?’ No one was willing to give me a break, the whole festival basically. It’s like the paparazzi from hell. They were everywhere.”
The actor also spoke about his regret at turning down an offer to play the lead in a Bond film. He said: “I just felt like maybe I’m not the right guy for this, you know? I would’ve been a great Bond, I think. I would’ve been great at being straight-faced.”
The actor’s latest film The Game Changers, in which he plays Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, was a box-office hit in 2018. It also marked the first time that Jones had endorsed a film. The 62-year-old billionaire had previously appeared in a Super Bowl commercial and had been featured in a series of TV commercials promoting the American Cancer Society’s Stand Up To Cancer initiative. He became somewhat of a spokesman for the organisation following the success of those campaigns. Now, with interest in the fight against cancer rising, Jones has found a new cause to champion.
Jones said: “I’m not going to lie: It was hard not to be connected to Game Changers given its themes and the fact that I’m playing a sports figure. But as a person who’s been in the public eye for a long time and who’s always tried to stay above gossip, I would’ve liked to have kept my private life private.”
In 2018, Jones’ net worth was estimated at around US$16 billion. He is also the owner of the Dallas Cowboys, the American Football League franchise that he bought in 1989 for US$250 million. In 2016, he sold a 30% stake in the team to the founder of the Star Wars franchise, George Lucas.
Despite his enormous wealth and power, Jones has long been frustrated by the tabloid media. In 2004, he set up the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue award in an effort to shut down magazines such as Sports Illustrated. The following year, he was a founding member of the National Football Foundation and College Football Hall of Fame. In 2005, he helped establish the Jerry Jones Centre for Courage and Creativity at the University of Alabama. The same year, he donated US$30 million to endow the university’s football stadium, Dyne Stadium, with the name Jerry Jones.
Jones is one of the wealthiest, most powerful and connected individuals in Hollywood, having been chairman and CEO of the movie studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), for 34 years. In 2012, the New York Times estimated that he was the 32nd-wealthiest person in the world. He is also one of the most successful entrepreneurs in the history of American cinema.
‘Gossip Cop’ Review: A Tale Of Two Films
While most people went ga-ga over Gossip Cop, the film that started it all, those that knew better went home with a smile after seeing the companion piece.
Both films are based on the true story of gossip journalist Victoria Clarke and her battle to expose the truth about celebrities. However, while Gossip Cop is a coming-of-age story about a young woman trying to make it in a man’s world, Wise Women is a much older story that focusses on the relationships that celebrities and other high-profile individuals build over the course of their careers.
Both films feature a stellar ensemble cast made up of some of Hollywood’s top female stars. However, while Gossip Cop is a tale of triumph over adversity focussed on a young, shapely, blonde who defies all convention and stereotypes, Wise Women tells a different story about a group of Hollywood power brokers who navigate the treacherous waters of celebrity politics and the tabloids.
The two films are not only structurally and thematically dissimilar, they also feature some wildly contrasting protagonists. While Victoria’s personal life is the stuff of tabloid gossip, her professional life is that of a by- the-books journalist whose name regularly appears in the paper with a byline next to her name. In stark contrast, the foursome of women who make up the cast of Wise Women are presented as cold, callous and power-hungry. In one scene, the glamorous starlet, Joan Collins, even throws a drink in the face of an unruly group of paparazzi who have gathered outside of her apartment building.
Joan, an acclaimed British actress who starred in films such as House of Cards and The Man Who Knew Too Much, was the last surviving member of the so-called ‘Warner Sisters’ (Joan, Terry, and Diana). The three were famous for their work in films during the golden era of Hollywood in the 1950s and 1960s. They are also credited with reviving the ‘fawty’ (fairy tale-like) romance genre, for which they are best known. In reality, the ‘Warner Sisters’ were hardly a trio of ladies who donated their time to charitable causes while cavorting with wealthy men. They were, in fact, the subject of an exposé in the tabloid press that detailed their extravagant lifestyles and alleged links to organised crime. The story, which appeared in the London Evening Standard in 1996, revealed that the group was dogged by scandal from the very beginning.
While it’s debatable as to whether or not the ‘Warner Sisters’ were actually as bad as they were accused of being, it is without debate that the three got what was coming to them. Most of the group’s members spent some time in prison, mostly for drug-related offences. In 2006, the trio’s lawyer pleaded with the courts for them to receive suspended sentences due to their advanced ages. He also alleged that the sisters would become a burden to society if they were to be sent to prison. In addition to the legal proceedings, the story of the ‘Warner Sisters’ also garnered public support, with fans and other well-wishers sending letters to the editor of the London Evening Standard defending the legendary actresses.
Gossip Cop follows the travails of gossip reporter Victoria Clarke (played with ghoulish panache by Sienna Miller), who is attempting to navigate the cutthroat world of celebrity journalism. A successful playwright, filmmaker and journalist, Clarke decides to take a job as a featured columnist for a major newspaper, the New York Post. The offer comes as a breath of fresh air to the downtrodden Clarke, who has just been fired by her previous employer, the prestigious New York magazine, for allegedly fabricating a feature on the red-carpet designer, Versace.