.MOVIE LISTINGS | MOVIE REVIEW ARCHIVE | THEATER INFO Beautiful Chaos Famous guys outshone by famous structures BY SUZI STEFFEN SKETCHES OF FRANK GEHRY: Directed by Sydney Pollack. Music by Claes Nystrom and Jonas Sorman. Starring Frank Gehry, Dennis Hopper, Julian Schnabel, Ed Ruscha, Mildred Friedman. Sony Pictures Classics, 2006. PG-13. 83 minutes. "As you mature, you sort of find out the hard way that the world doesn't revolve around your butt." DG Bank, Berlin That's architect Frank Gehry speaking to director Sydney Pollack. Of course, in the realm of architecture, much of the world does revolve around Gehry — Guggenheim Bilbao, anyone? In this documentary, Pollack, director of movies such as Tootsie and Out of Africa, collects an offbeat but impressive collection of famous men (and one woman: curator and art historian Mildred Friedman) to tell the story of Gehry's rise to prominence. Pollack and Gehry are buddies. Apparently, the two have many other buddies, like artists Ed Ruscha and Julian Schnabel (a fine turn for the publicity-loving Schnabel, who appears in a white robe and sunglasses, waving a glass of hard liquor), architect Philip Johnson (also featured prominently in 2003's My Architect), Guggenheim director Thomas Krens, musician Bob Geldof, actor Dennis Hopper, Hollywood powerhouse Barry Diller and L.A. Philharmonic music director Esa-Pekka Salonen. Michael Eisner. Is there any upper-class entertainment world white guy who isn't in this movie? But, despite the fascination engendered by weird wealthy dudes, the point of the movie is watching the camera adore Gehry's buildings. Footage of Gehry's therapist ("No, no, I didn't make Frank famous … ") and the persistently goofy score aside, the buildings are the winners. "That chaos was beautiful," Gehry says about some of his work. We see him and his many long-suffering assistants crumpling silvery material into architectural forms that are then translated through digital imaging into computer models — and into final buildings. Nay-sayers like Princeton's preening Hal Foster — all too aware of his role as foil to the awestruck rich — show up briefly, but the documentary basically says what Pollack wants: Gehry's brand of cool justifiably stands at the center of the architectural world. ew Sketches of Frank Gehry opens Friday, July 14 at the Bijou.
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