9 Authors Who Made Terrible Films Of Their Own Books
3. Norman Mailer - Tough Guys Don't Dance
American author Norman Mailers last movie Tough Guys Dont Dance starred Ryan ONeil, playing a man who awakens from a bender to find a severed head in his marijuana stash; so the worst hangover ever basically. It was adapted from one of Mailers weaker books, and is a horrible mishmash of tones; camp and over the top one moment, then dark and bitter the next. The movie is best remembered today for the amazing Oh man! Oh god! scene, where Ryan ONeal who was never one of the great actors to start with reads a disturbing letter on a beach and reacts in the most melodramatic way possible. Aside from being funny, it also sums up what's wrong with the movie; the scene was meant to be sad, but Mailer left it in because it made him laugh. ONeal apparently never forgave him for this. Tough Guys Don't Dance is also of special significance to Quentin Tarantino; it was the first movie he went to see the night he finished the screenplay for True Romance. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9KyBdPeKHg
