Review: 'Turn Every Page' explores the editor-writer dynamic of Caro and Gottieb

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) — Turn Every Page - The Adventures of Robert Caro and Robert Gottlieb
4 out of 5 Stars
Director: Lizzie Gottlieb
Genre: Documentary
Rated: PG for some language, brief war images and smoking

SALT LAKE CITY (KUTV) – Studio Synopsis:"Turn Every Page" explores the remarkable fifty-year relationship between two literary legends: writer Robert Caro and his longtime editor Robert Gottlieb. Now 86, Caro is working to complete the final volume of his masterwork, "The Years of Lyndon Johnson"; Gottlieb, 91, waits to edit it. The task of finishing their life’s work looms before them. With humor and insight, this unique double portrait reveals the work habits, peculiarities and professional joys of these two ferocious intellects at the culmination of a journey that has consumed both their lives and impacted generations of politicians, activists, writers, and readers.

Review: I have little interest in politics, but the duplicity of Lyndon B. Johnson as explored by journalist Robert Caro intrigues me. As does Caro’s writing process and his relationship with renowned editor Robert Gottieb. “Turn Every Page” touches on both, but is more of an intimate profile of two men on intersecting journeys than it is a direct examination of the relationship between writer and editor. The pair have very little shared screentime. The distance between the two men might surprise some. Caro’s process is slow and methodical. Gottlieb is more voracious. It might be what allows them to be a successful team. It might not.

“Turn Every Page” is born from the curiosity of Lizzie Gottlieb, Robert’s daughter, who never quite understood her father’s relationship with Caro. She knew many of the other authors that her father worked with over the years on a personal level. Caro was absent from their dinners and parties. Maybe it was their constant refusal to participate in the documentary that kept her curious? I suspect she knew that answers would be hard to come by.

But there are answers. Not the direct kind, but the sort that spill out as accomplished men reflect on their lives: “This is my approach”; “This is the advice that was given to me.” It is incredibly interesting and affirming. I can’t claim to be half the writer Caro is, but our approach to writing is similar. I can’t write a novel in a month. I could write one a year. I should write one a year.

I often reflect on my experiences of working with a variety of editors. How the dialog with each of them has been unique.

Yeah, I really loved watching this movie.