To be clear though: please do not let that opening paragraph discourage anyone else from writing nice things about this website in their own books. That chapters marks the appearance of Ken Russell, Kermode’s steadfast admiration of the late Alexander Walker, and the differing positions both of them took with regards film criticism. They’re an interesting contrast too, for reasons that Hatchet Job explains well, and it’s a useful glance at two perspectives of movie criticism. It’s the willngness to embrace a variety of opinions, and a clear respect of backed-up viewpoints, that instantly makes Kermode’s arguments worth latching onto, even if you don’t agree with them all. From the start though, I got the growing feeling that the book itself wasn’t going to live up to its billing of “loves movies, hate critics”, and in truth, it doesn’t really. “Loves movies, some critics really do let the side down” might be a better, albeit less catchy, tagline. That’s no criticism of the argument Kermode presents, just an observation. But it’s where the book digs into the decline of accountability, the rise of the blog, the emergence of the Twitter soundbite and the rush to get reviews out first that you can’t help but find yourself nodding along. Furthermore, it touches – but doesn’t heavily dwell – on how film critics can help shine a light on films that otherwise might not get that exposure, particularly with his segment on rediscovering the film Jeremy, that’ll more than likely have you trying to hunt the film down on disc (not easy, but there’s an old region one release out there). It’s a measured, thought-through argument that Kermode puts across, and in places, quite a restrained one. That said, there are certainly segments of the book where you’d hate to have been Mark Kermode’s keyboard while he was typing it out. For a man known for some of his legendary rants, there’s more an impassioned argument than rampage of remonstration on offer here. But every now and then, you hit a passage where his space bar must have shuddered at the sight of an angry Kermode digit heading towards it umpteen times a minute. If there’s one bias I can’t help but feel towards Hatchet Job, it’s that it’s a book about a field that I work in, and thus I was always likely to get a good deal out of the book. I’d argue that, if anything, there are moments where Kermode lets people off the hook a little too easily on the basis of some of the behaviour I’ve personally witnessed. But even on a second read, this is a very accessible, entertaining and relevant book, that I enjoyed immensely. If you care about films, and the reporting of films, it’s very much worth lending it your eyeballs. Warmly recommended.
