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The Film Club

by David Gilmour

3.12 · rating details · 1,662 ratings · 398 reviews

From the 2005 winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction and the former national film critic for CBC television comes a delightful and absorbing book about the agonies and joys of home-schooling a beloved son.

Written in the spare elegant style he is known for, The Film Club is the true story about David Gilmour’s decision to let his 15-year-old son dro...more

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Published March 1st 2008 by Ebury (first published September 13th 2007)

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May 10, 2008

Cathleen rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, abandoned

I quit. I cannot stand to read any more. I had been looking forward to reading this and was very much hoping to include it in the library's blog, but I can't do it. I kept pushing and reached the half-way mark, but no more.

A father allows his teenage son to drop out of school on the condition they together watch three movies (of his dad's choice) a week -- no job required, no pretense of schooling. The movies themselves are only cursorily discussed, which seems one of the biggest...more

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May 18, 2008

Kris rated it

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Recommended to Kris by: Veryshortlist.com

Shelves: booksiveread

I don't think I've read a more self-serving, craptastic piece of writing--it barely touches on how they felt about the films they watched together. Instead he pompously tells his son to watch for things in the films (things that HE likes or notices, but he doesn't seem to ask his son what his SON liked), then gives a 4 sentence wrap up at the end. Most of the book is the authors pointless (to the story) search for a job and how he lectures his drug abusing drinking son about how he'll "ge...more

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May 13, 2008

Melissa rated it

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I was a bit skeptical when I first heard about this book. There are so many writers out there who are now writing memoirs about their experiments in living. I am not so sure that they aren't conducting the experiment just to get material for a book. David Gilmour, an out of work television host/film writer, decides to let his teenage son drop out of school on the condition that he watch 3 movies with his father a week. He doesn't have to get a job, do anything to help his struggling (divorced) p...more

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Jun 02, 2008

Jen rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: parents, film buffs

Recommended to Jen by: John Nettles

Shelves: non-fiction

There is a limit to what you can force your child to do, especially once they've reached the age of 16 and are taller than you. David Gilmour recognized that fact and (bravely) let his son Jesse drop out of school on the condition that, together, they watch and discuss three movies each week. A former film critic for the CBC, Gilmour makes his movie selections with the intention of teaching his son as much as he can in the time they have left together.

Being neither a father nor a son...more

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Aug 04, 2008

Mike rated it

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As far as I'm concerned I'm fairly easy to please. I am a snob in most every way; however I tend to put forward that facade more so than is actually true as opposed to apparent. That said....

This book is God awful. David Gilmore is easily one of the most self-righteous and self-absorded authors I've ever read (with particular concern and attention being paid to the fact that his painfully obvious solipsism is without any romantic suggestion to the likes of Updike, Mailer, Hemingway, ...more

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Feb 06, 2008

Liberty rated it

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Bleh. The whole time, I kept thinking, "His son is really all right with him sharing that?" Then, at the end, it turns out, his son never read it. Gilmour thanks his son for trusting him to have the book published, sight unseen. Any day now, a headline will read "Film Critic Beaten to Death by Angry Son."

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Oct 21, 2008

Courtney rated it

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Shelves: chose-not-to-finish

I couldn't get through this one. The first thing that bugged me was the language. It was one of those "hey! I can swear!" books that was just for shock value. But that doesn't surprise me coming from this author who does seem to want to be "hip". Gilmour said that he wasn't trying to be cool, but actions speak louder than words. If you are letting your teenager drop out of school, have sex, smoke, and top it off by requiring him to watch rated R movies, then sorry, but ...more

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Jun 14, 2009

Anne rated it

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Awhile back I read a touching memoir called Life, Death & Bialys about a father-son pair who take a baking class together and discover new and wonderful things about their complicated relationship. I was hoping that The Film Club would give me an equally warm-hearted feeling. This is the story of a 16-year boy who just isn't quite cutting it in school. He is bored in class and does not seem motivated to do any of this work. His film loving father decides that maybe letting him drop out of school...moreAwhile back I read a touching memoir called Life, Death & Bialys about a father-son pair who take a baking class together and discover new and wonderful things about their complicated relationship. I was hoping that The Film Club would give me an equally warm-hearted feeling. This is the story of a 16-year boy who just isn't quite cutting it in school. He is bored in class and does not seem motivated to do any of this work. His film loving father decides that maybe letting him drop out of school for a bit will create a long-term solution. But, there's one catch. His son must watch three movies a week with him. The shocked son readily agrees. And so the Film Club begins. I then thought perhaps this would be like a book I read and LOVED a long time ago (courtesy of my Aunty Marji) called The Day I Became an Autodidact by Kendall Hailey - about a teenage girl who homeschools herself with a definite plan to
take control of her own education and learn everything on her own. I so wished I could be her - staying home everyday and just reading and reading and reading and becoming an expert on so many things. I thought perhaps Mr. Gilmour had a similarly structured plan in mind for his son - only with movies instead of books. Alas, I was sorely mistaken. Instead of arranging weeks of films by genre or time period or director - and teaching his son what he could about a given issues - Gilmour appears to pick his films at random. He spouts off a sentence or two about each movie (mostly while his son rolls his eyes or gazes off into the distance) and then he just hits play. Gilmour clearly has a great deal of knowledge about film, and I felt like the book was a vehicle for him to espouse his views on the given films, rather than give the reader any insight into how the films may have affected his son - or creating any meaningful dialogue between the two. In addition to the movie watching, Gilmour spends much of the book focused on his son's pathetic love life. His son shares quite a bit with him about the girls who lead him on and break his heart, but who he can't help being unnaturally obsessed with. And Gilmour offers to him quite possibly the world's worst advice, over and over. The two also seem to drink a lot together, despite his son's young age, including a stint in Cuba where the two order beer after beer. Gilmour is then shocked when his son reveals that he uses drugs (perhaps the persistant malaise, lack of interest in anything, and disastrous personal relationships were not big enough red flags?) - and despite Gilmour's stern warning at the beginning of the book that if he finds out his son is using drugs that The Film Club will stop and his son will be cut off - not surprisingly for a father with no boundaries, the incident is brushed aside and Film Club continues in all its pointless nonsense. Along the way, Gilmour is also proud to include stories about his more than civilized relationship with his ex-wife - who strangely appears to have no objections to this weird "educational" situation. There is no doubt that Gilmour loves his son, but he portrays him in this book as one of the biggest losers of all time. It would be nice in a couple years to include an Afterward (hopefully) showing how The Film Club saved his son from an otherwise dead-end high school career, and how his son is now a successful film maker, or something of the sort. I am a big believer that mainstream high school is certainly not for everyone, and that home-school or self-directed learning is a great option for many kids. But, I still believe a semblance of focus and a plan is necessary for learning to actually take place. This book did nothing to prove me wrong, and I found it a colossal and disturbing disappointment.(less)

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Jul 07, 2008

Vickie Roberts rated it

· review of another edition

Shelves: mostly-true-stories

sometimes the idea of a book surpasses what the book is actually able to accomplish. an interesting idea to have a father honestly discuss life with his son. too many reviews have been critical of the author's choice to allow his son to make his own decisions about sex, drinking and drugs. i understand canadian society to be slightly more permissive of these behaviors than american. there also seems to be some sort of confusion as to what a memoir is. they tend to be rather self-serving as ...more

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Jun 27, 2008

Lundy rated it

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When I first heard about Film Club on NPR I was intrigued. When David Gilmour’s son, Jesse, begins to have trouble with school, David swaps houses with his ex to live with Jesse. It soon becomes apparent that Jesse is miserable in school and Gilmour fears he may lose his son.

“I also knew in that instant – knew it in my blood – that I was going to lose him over this stuff, that one of these days he was going to stand up across the table and say, “Where are my notes? I’ll tell you wher...moreWhen I first heard about Film Club on NPR I was intrigued. When David Gilmour’s son, Jesse, begins to have trouble with school, David swaps houses with his ex to live with Jesse. It soon becomes apparent that Jesse is miserable in school and Gilmour fears he may lose his son.

“I also knew in that instant – knew it in my blood – that I was going to lose him over this stuff, that one of these days he was going to stand up across the table and say, “Where are my notes? I’ll tell you where my notes are. I shoved the up my a#@. And if you don’t lay the f*@k off them, I’m going to shove them up yours.” And then he’d be gone, slam, and that’d be that.”

Gilmour takes the unusual step of telling his son that he can drop out of school. In return, his son has to promise not to do drugs and to watch three movies a week with his father.

So, begins three years of movie watching. While his father grapples with ups and downs in his career, Jesse suffers several misadventures in love. They watch a wide and eclectic mix of movies from Annie Hall to the Exorcist to Show Girls.

This is a sweet and tender story about a father and son. It’s also has several interesting insights in to movies. Among the things I found interesting, Stephen King did not like the Shining (movie version).

“King went to an early screening of The Shining and came away disgusted; he said the movie was like a Cadillac without an engine. “You get, you can smell the leather, but you can’t drive it anywhere.” In fact, he went on to say he thought Kubrick made movies to “hurt people.”

I got a kick out of the fact that after they watched The Exorcist, Jesse slept on the couch that night, with a light on. I remember seeing that movie in college. My roommate was gone for the weekend. I was so freaked out I slept on the floor of my friend’s dorm room.

Gilmour’s love and deep knowledge of films and the love he has for his son comes through on every page.

His son ends up going back to school. Although it may sound strange that he let him drop out, it’s clear that Gilmour was conflicted about his decision but did it because he thought it was the best thing for Jesse.(less)

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Jun 08, 2008

Ashley rated it

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The memoir of a fellow who allowed his son to drop out of high school if he would agree to watch three movies (of his father's choosing) a week... With his father.

It was a pretty entertaining book, and an interesting concept. Especially to someone like myself, who has little feeling for school (especially high school, which I didn't bother attending) and very strong feelings for film.

But it was a very quick read. I had hoped that it would have been more about the movie w...more

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Aug 02, 2008

Anastasia rated it

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Shelves: 2008, memoirbio, non-fiction

For me, it’s difficult to like a book if I don’t like any of the characters. I was really excited to read The Film Club, about a 16-year-old boy who wishes to quit high school and does so, with his father’s blessing, with the caveat that he must watch three movies a week (all chosen by the father). The result, according to the book jacket, is high-quality father-son bonding, the likes of which rarely happen after a boy has reached his teen years.

While I did read about conversations J...moreFor me, it’s difficult to like a book if I don’t like any of the characters. I was really excited to read The Film Club, about a 16-year-old boy who wishes to quit high school and does so, with his father’s blessing, with the caveat that he must watch three movies a week (all chosen by the father). The result, according to the book jacket, is high-quality father-son bonding, the likes of which rarely happen after a boy has reached his teen years.

While I did read about conversations Jesse had with his father that did indeed demonstrate their emotional closeness, I wasn’t particularly impressed with Jesse or his father. Jesse is repeatedly described as a pale-faced smoker who doesn’t want to get a job (or go to school), wakes up in the early afternoon smelling hung-over, and who is obsessed with a beautiful girl who enjoys treating him like crap. The father, for his part, is some sort of wealthy TV personality with a drinking problem whose latest project is coming to an end and fears having to work as a substitute teacher (?). Though he’s low on money, he refuses to stop eating at Le Paradis, clearly an expensive French restaurant, and when he begins talks with someone about a new project, he prematurely celebrates by taking his son and his ex-wife on an expensive trip to Cuba (they go to the airport in a limo), where he drinks too much (as usual) and comes home to find out the project has fallen through. As if the reader were an idiot, the father (also the author) waits until page 118 to mention that if he has any addiction, it’s eating in expensive restaurants when he can’t afford them (he forgot to mention his other addiction of drinking too much alcohol).

While I'm neutral as to the idea of letting a teen drop out of school and making him watch movies as a form of education (after all, I was intrigued enough with the idea to want to read this book), I find Gilmour's other parenting methods dubious at best. Jesse isn't required to work and he spends his dad's money on cigarettes and booze. When Jesse's heart is repeatedly broken, he copes by drinking too much and using cocaine (one time this even lands him in the hospital with the fear he's had a heart attack). His father doesn't recommend or require that he see a therapist, talk with a member of the clergy, write in his journal, go to the gym, meditate, or any number of other healthier ways of coping with heartbreak. If you still want to read it, I'll let you figure out how it ends.
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Apr 06, 2008

theduckthief rated it

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The Good: David Gilmour lets his son 16 year old son Jesse drop out of school. The catch to this agreement is Jesse has to watch three movies a week with his dad. But Jesse doesn't get to pick the movies. This is what intrigued me on the book jacket because I love movies. It doesn't hurt that Gilmour was CBC's tv movie critic through most of the 90s. I was also drawn to the fact this was a memoir about a father and son relationship. That aspect of life has always seemed strange and mysterious co...moreThe Good: David Gilmour lets his son 16 year old son Jesse drop out of school. The catch to this agreement is Jesse has to watch three movies a week with his dad. But Jesse doesn't get to pick the movies. This is what intrigued me on the book jacket because I love movies. It doesn't hurt that Gilmour was CBC's tv movie critic through most of the 90s. I was also drawn to the fact this was a memoir about a father and son relationship. That aspect of life has always seemed strange and mysterious considering I'm a girl. I've always wondered what father's and sons discuss when they actually have conversations.

I liked how goofy and comical and true Gilmour was in how he dealt with life. I really felt for how he handled the situation with Jesse and his various problems. It brings to light the dilemmas parents face when raising their children. Different choices lead to different outcomes and not always with the intended result. The most interesting parts for me were the conversations over the movies. I learned that a lot of male conversation has a lot to do with what's not said. Strangely enough I already knew this from books and movies. It's called 'withholding' and doesn't just apply to men.

The Bad: I was really expecting more. The book felt short, almost truncated. I think the main reason for this was Jesse was 16 at the beginning and several years passed within the book but fairly large chunks of time were skipped over. I know Gilmour most likely highlighted the interesting and important parts of those years but I wonder about what was left out. I wonder about what movies were left out.

The Ugly: I thought this would really be my kind of book. What could be better than a father and son bonding over movies? I was especially looking forward to the movie discussion. But when it came down to it, the discussion was short and most of the films discussed were what I would call 'art house' films. They weren't mainstream and I'd never heard of quite a few. I had no way of identifying with David or Jesse when they discussed these books. Although, I do agree with what they said about Audrey Hepburn in "Breakfast at Tiffany's", having just watched it over the weekend. But you'll have to wait for my movie review to find out about that.

Granted, they did discuss movies like "Psycho", "On the Waterfront" and "The Shining". I think my main problem with this book is that I expected more from the movie side when the book is marketed and written as a memoir. Only a few movies watched over these years are actually mentioned in the book. My expectations were blown out of proportion, making the book feel like a letdown. While it's a nice little book about a father and son, it doesn't necessarily break new ground in any area.

Don't get me wrong, I liked the book. I just didn't like it as much as I expected to. If you watch a lot of movies, especially older and more obscure films and like reading about true stories and the struggle between parent and child then this is the book for you.(less)

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Aug 13, 2008

Jennifer rated it

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Shelves: adult-books

This memoir of a professional film critic who let his disengaged teenage son drop out of school as long as he watched three films a week of his father's choosing is an intimate portrayal of a father-son relationship. Though I didn't agree with some of the author's parenting choices (his son was allowed to sleep all day, remain unemployed, and drink alcohol) his film choices were interesting to read about, and I added quite a few selections to my Netflix queue. I might have added a star had this ...more

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Mar 01, 2009

matt rated it

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After Lori smartly discarded this after the first 30 pages, I decided to spend a few hours of my weekend breezing through it. I can see what it first appealed to her considering she is a sucker for the "let's do a whole lot of this in ____time period" genre although this seems like an odd choice for her considering she rates films in ambien rather than stars. But the idea of allowing one's son to drop out of high-school if he were to adhere to the rather weak regiment of watching 3 fil...more

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Nov 30, 2008

Steven rated it

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Shelves: books-about-movies

On of those books that I picked up on a bit of a whim at the library that was deliciously light weekend fare that could be read in a couple of quick sittings. The premise of this one is rather remarkable - a Canadian father offers to let his son drop out of school if he watches three movies a week. There are quite a few things in this book that really disturb, not the least of which is the fact that the son is hard to like. He drinks a lot, is an aspiring rapper, and it is hard to tell whethe...moreOn of those books that I picked up on a bit of a whim at the library that was deliciously light weekend fare that could be read in a couple of quick sittings. The premise of this one is rather remarkable - a Canadian father offers to let his son drop out of school if he watches three movies a week. There are quite a few things in this book that really disturb, not the least of which is the fact that the son is hard to like. He drinks a lot, is an aspiring rapper, and it is hard to tell whether he really is getting that much from the films they are watching. Sometimes, you wonder whether the father is trying to be more of friend to the son than he is a parent, something I just find intolerable. You would think the films would provide the groundwork for discussion abut life and all the learning that would supplement the high school experience, but these discussions are rarely chronicled. Essentially, the films serve more as a background to the larger story of a parent helping his son deal with the various heartbreaks that come with growing up.

Despite the above mentioned criticism, I couldn’t help but enjoy this book. Watching a great movie, much like reading a great book, is such an affecting experience, at times it can be almost spiritual. John Irving has a great quote in “The Fourth Hand” where he notes that movies can be mutually appreciated, but the specific reasons for loving them cannot satisfactorily be shared. Movies are comprised of the whole range of moods you are in when you see them – you can never exactly imitate someone else’s love of a movie. What is so great about this book is that we get to hear, multiple times about multiple movies, why Gilmour loves them, and I love to hear people talk and write about things they are passionate about. In the book while imparting advice to his son about his rap lyrics, Gilmour advises his son to essentially write what you know, and those various points in this book where the author writes what he knows about filmmaking are tough to beat. Here, for example, is a quote that I loved:

“American Graffiti isn’t just about a bunch of kids on a Saturday night. When a very youg Richard Dreyfuss drops in on the local radio station, there’s a gorgeous moment when he catches Wolfman Jack doing his gravel-voiced routine. Dreyfuss suddenly understands what the center of the universe really is: It’s not a place, it’s the embodiment of a desire to never miss out on anything – not somewhere you can go, in other words, but rather a place you want to be. And I loved the speech the hot-rodder gives, about how it used to take a full tank of gas to “do” the town strip, but now it’s over in five minutes. Without knowing it, he’s talking about the end of childhood. The world has shrunk while you were looking the other way.

I don’t want to wear out my welcome talking about Proust and American Graffiti, but how else can you look at that beautiful girl in the Thunderbird who keeps appearing and disappearing at the edge of Dreyfuss’s vision, except as an example of the Proustian contemplation that possession and desire are mutually exclusive, that for the girl to be the girl, she must always be pulling away?”

There were various moments, such as that, that made this book worthwhile. If you love movies and you love to hear people talking passionately about movies, this book has enough to keep you satisfied.

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Jul 26, 2011

Ginette González rated it

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Recommends it for: Young people interested in film appreciation, parents of teenagers

This book turned out to be a completely different book than I expected, but I still enjoyed it. Pretty soon I realized I had approached the book with the wrong idea about it. Don't know why, but I had imagined this whole "film club experience" shared by father and son was going to be more about watching serious coming-of-age films, stories with young protagonists, addresing profound themes for a young man to reflect about, thought-provoking movies and messages, etc. No, this is not tha...more

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Jul 05, 2011

Jared rated it

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Read the book more or less in one sitting because it is such an easy read. I am a film snob wannabe so half of what attracted me to the book was all the different movies discussed. For me this paid off through the whole book. I could have been happy reading about movies for 200 pages but the author moved on to things about his job, his son, and all the bad mistakes they both made. I still have not gathered all my thoughts on the father (the son is from the father's perspective so his ideas of...more

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Mar 27, 2011

Shawna rated it

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This book gave me a lot of good leads on films that I would like to see. Much like the book "So Many Books, So Little Time" by Sara Nelson gave me new leads on interesting book titles.

One element that annoyed me about this book was the amount of space the author gave to describing his son's romantic angst. I found myself irritated by the boy's relentless moping about breaking up with first one girlfriend and then the next. Perhaps I am a a sexist woman, but I really didn...more

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Nov 19, 2010

Phyllis rated it

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For the 1st half of the book, I thought this was the worst book I ever read. I didn't like the characters, the situation, the idea of the film club as a substitute for school, the language, or the writing style. I became especially disgusted by a father drinking with his underage son in the bars of Cuba. Not to mention the father's peculiarly laissez faire attitude about his son's use of cigarettes, cocaine, and teenage girls - in the father's own home.
But the book was a gift and I strug...more

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Oct 28, 2010

David J. rated it

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Recommends it for: parents, film lovers

Recommended to David J. by: no one

Canadian dad and cinefile, David Gilmour made a deal with his 15-year-old son, Jesse, who was floundering and failing in his academics. Drop out of school, without a job (you don't even get out of bed before noon), on one condition: Watch three movies a week with your father. Nice deal. This "The Film Club" began, in which Gilmour's page-turning account of that experiment becomes a breezy read. While his brief insights on the selected films are dead-on and attract an interest for those...more

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Sep 10, 2010

Shelly rated it

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Recommends it for: NO ONE-Please don't waste your valuable reading time!

Shelves: memoirs-bios-essays, give-away-throw-away

Couldn't finish it. I was okay with the writing (which was so-so), I was getthing through the language (which was not okay) when I thought Gilmour had something to say, I was overlooking the fact that this guy has had two kids by two different women and married now a third time and is now writing a book on his "relationship" with his son, but what I'm not okay with is that he LIES to his son every other sentence out of his mouth!!! If you think your kid is old enough (in this case 16 y...more

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Aug 17, 2010

Janet rated it

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David Gilmour writes a book about his decision to allow his son to drop out of school on the condition that he watch three movies with his father. While it is an interesting meditation about the power of cinema, it is also a massive rationalization to justify to his decision allow his son to leave school and hang around the house jobless and directionless for the next three years. His son emerges from the odyssey directionless and his only skills are a marginal career in rap music in Canada an...more

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Apr 02, 2010

James Burkhalter rated it

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Recommends it for: Movie buffs, Film professors

Despite the large print and short chapters, it took me a week to trudge through this memoir. "The Film Club" is the first memoir I've ever read from a middle-aged father's perspective and yet it is, by far, the most sickeningly sentimental memoir I've ever read. Whenever David Gillmour attempts to describe a deep love and affection for his son (aka EVERY other page), it comes off as inappropriate and incestuous... seriously, I was expecting penetration at any given moment. *cringe*
...more

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Nov 09, 2009

Kathrina rated it

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Shelves: memoirs-bios

Here's what I've learned about David Gilmour: He's a talented film critic, a mediocre writer, and a ridiculously irresponsible human being. I was going to say irresponsible father, since I think his approach to parenting is horrendous and naive, but I have to back up and say no, his whole personal and professional life that he brings to light through this memoir is despicable, hypocritical, and undignified. He's an alcoholic, he spends his money irresponsibly and stupidly, his current wife is to...moreHere's what I've learned about David Gilmour: He's a talented film critic, a mediocre writer, and a ridiculously irresponsible human being. I was going to say irresponsible father, since I think his approach to parenting is horrendous and naive, but I have to back up and say no, his whole personal and professional life that he brings to light through this memoir is despicable, hypocritical, and undignified. He's an alcoholic, he spends his money irresponsibly and stupidly, his current wife is too forgiving of his aloof, "cool" parenting, he doesn't follow through on any of his "promises" or ultimatums, he thinks his career on television actually matters to anyone but him, he's not sure his teenage son can understand the word "simultaneously", nor can he find Florida on a map, but dropping out of school is a good idea, he's afraid of actually parenting his son for fear he might "hurt" him. And apparently he has a daughter by another mother who doesn't get a line of mention.
Even though this is not a good book, I enjoyed reading it for two reasons. One, the small amount of actual film criticism was quite interesting, and I wish that was the whole book, because it's the one thing I can trust this author to write intelligently about. Two, I enjoyed pointing out Gilmour's hypocrisy and plain spineless parenting mistakes. Insert "such as" here:
Gilmour and his loser son have way too many conversations about his son's stupid and pointless lovelife. Point for Gilmour that his alcoholic, drug-taking, smoking, sex-having, high-school-drop-out 16-year-old-son is willing to communicate with his father. But when this son asks him for his opinion on his current love interest, Gilmour answers that he'd "say whatever I'd have to say to make you feel better." Oh, that's a good idea. Tell your son that his skanky, slutty girlfriend is a catch, because that's what he wants to hear. And here's some great advice for your 16-year-old: "...it's alright to go to bed with an asshole but don't ever have a baby with one." Wait, did we have the conversation about birth control, yet? Ah, not today's problem...
So, anyway, the maybe 20 pages or so of film analysis are pretty interesting. But reading film analysis does not equal actually watching the films, and, believe it or not, watching the films does not equal a high school diploma. It's weird that maybe you thought that. (less)

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Nov 01, 2009

Jack Cheng added it · review of another edition

An extremely readable memoir of a father who allows his teenage son to quit school in the ninth grade (or grade 9, because it takes place in Toronto) with the condition that the two of them will watch a movie together three times a week. It's a slight premise, but what sticks with me is the difficulty of communicating with a teenager, the lessons the father passes to his son about dating, and just the pure love a parent has for a child. If I didn't have kids myself, I might not understand the de...more

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Oct 03, 2009

McNeil rated it

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Shelves: memoir

I think I would have liked this better if I was more of a film person. But it has piqued my interest in films, and I think I would like to explore further. The real story here, though, the one about a man and his father was very intriguing. The teenaged man-boy creature is a mystery, and getting someone's view of trying to reach and love and grow one was absolutely fascinating. Truly, some of the choices the author made along this journey--really, his whole way of living life--were so foreign to...more

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Sep 23, 2009

Todd rated it

· review of another edition

Recommends it for: Everyone with children

Recommended to Todd by: My wife

Lets get this out of the way...this is not written by the guitar player from Pink Floyd.
This was a remarkable book. It is usually not the genre that I read, however, it combines two of my favorite things...parenthood and movies. Gilmore does a fantastic job of identifying many of the fears of parenting, adulthood and the overall human experience. If it sounds sappy, it was not. It is a story to which any parent can relate.
It is about watching your child grow, providing guidance even...more

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Aug 03, 2009

Stephanie rated it

· review of another edition

In this memoir, Gilmour paints himself as the ultimate enlightened Dad, gracefully steering his rebellious teenage son through the latter's choices to bomb out in school, drop out at age 16, smoke, drink, have sex in the basement, pine over his lost girlfriends, join a dirty-mouthed rap group, contribute nothing financially to the household, and do cocaine. Somehow Gilmour also convinces his ex-wife to switch homes with him, so that he, the current wife, and the slacker son get to live in a hou...more

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Jun 10, 2009

Kristine rated it

· review of another edition

I was very intrigued by the premise of this book: former film critic father lets 15-year-old son drop out of school as long as they watch three films a week together. I thought it sounded so crazy and off the wall that it must have worked and been incredibly meaningful. Why else would you write about it? That's the question. Why did David Gilmour write about this? The kid doesn't have a job or a direction or a passion about anything, and the the father condones the kid's laziness, drinking...more

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About David Gilmour

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David Gilmour is a novelist who has earned critical praise from literary figures as diverse as William Burroughs and Northrop Frye, and from publications as different as the New York Times to People magazine. The author of six novels, he also hosted the award-win...more

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Quotes from The Film Club

“...the second time you see something is really the first time. You need to know how it ends before you can appreciate how beautifully it's put together from the beginning.” — 16 people liked it

“I mean that it's all right to go to bed with an asshole but don't ever have a baby with one.” — 16 people liked it

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avg rating	preview: The Film Club Goodreads rating: 3.12 (1662 ratings)
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