Martin Brest

Martin Brest (born August 8, 1951) is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. After his feature debut, Going in Style (1979), he directed the action comedies Beverly Hills Cop (1984) and Midnight Run (1988), which were critical and commercial hits. He then directed Scent of a Woman (1992), starring Al Pacino, who won the Academy Award for Best Actor for his performance, and earned Brest nominations for Best Director and Best Picture.

He followed up with Meet Joe Black (1998), which received mixed reviews. Brest's next film was Gigli (2003). After disagreements between Brest and Revolution Studios,<ref name="Gilchrist">Template:Cite news</ref> creative control was taken from him, resulting in a radically rewritten and reshot version,<ref name=PB>Template:Cite web</ref> which became his first and only unprofitable film,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> a box-office bomb that was widely panned. It remains his last film to date.

Early life and education

Brest was born to Eastern European Jewish immigrant parents in a working-class neighborhood in the Bronx in 1951.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name = Coleman>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was influenced by watching The Honeymooners as a child, saying in a 2023 interview, "I was a kid watching it in a household that was economically not that different than in the show. I felt like it was a show made for my neighborhood. And that character of Ralph Kramden really touched me, that angry soul whose spirit blossoms".<ref name = Gilchrist />

Brest graduated from Stuyvesant High School in 1969 and from New York University's School of the Arts in 1973.<ref name="Coleman" /> His NYU student film, Hot Dogs for Gauguin (1972), starring a then unknown Danny DeVito and with a small part by then unknown Rhea Perlman, was one of 25 films chosen in 2009 by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress to "be preserved as cultural, artistic and/or historical treasures"<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref> and is in the Museum of Modern Art's permanent collection. Brest graduated from the AFI Conservatory with a Master of Fine Arts in 1977.<ref name="Coleman" />

Career

Brest's major studio debut was Going in Style (1979), starring George Burns, Art Carney, and Lee Strasberg.<ref name="Canby">Template:Cite news</ref> Brest was then hired to direct WarGames (1983), starring Matthew Broderick, but he was fired three weeks into production amid conflicts with the film's executive producer and replaced by John Badham.<ref name = Gilchrist/><ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>

The dismissal from WarGames left Brest pessimistic about his career until Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer recruited him to direct Beverly Hills Cop (1984), starring Eddie Murphy.<ref name = Gilchrist/><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film grossed over $300 million worldwide<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and received Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture (Musical or Comedy) and Best Actor (Motion Picture Musical or Comedy, Eddie Murphy) as well as an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Screenplay. In 2024 it became the second of Brest's films to be chosen by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress to "be preserved as cultural, artistic and/or historical treasures."<ref name=":1">Template:Cite web</ref>

Brest was in pre-production for Rain Man (1988) when he cast Tom Cruise for the role opposite Dustin Hoffman before Barry Levinson directed the film.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Brest's next film was the action-comedy Midnight Run (1988), starring Robert De Niro and Charles Grodin.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> The film was another critical and commercial success, earning Brest another Golden Globe Award nomination for Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy and De Niro a Best Actor Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy nomination.

Brest's work on Scent of a Woman (1992) earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Drama. The film also won Golden Globes for Al Pacino and screenwriter Bo Goldman and a Best Supporting Actor nomination for Chris O'Donnell. It received four Academy Award nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay (Adapted), with Pacino winning Best Actor.<ref name=THR>Template:Cite web</ref>

Brest's next film, Meet Joe Black (1998), starring Brad Pitt and Anthony Hopkins, was a loose remake of 1934's Death Takes a Holiday.<ref name=NYT>Template:Cite web</ref> The film had an American box-office return of $44.6 million, taking in an additional $98.3 million overseas for a worldwide total of $142.9 million.<ref name=B>Template:Cite web</ref>

Brest wrote and directed Gigli (2003), starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez.<ref name=PB /> During filming, production company Revolution Studios took creative control from him, resulting in a radically rewritten and reshot version.<ref name = PB/> It became one of the more notorious films of its time, widely panned by critics. A 2014 article in Playboy observed that in the then-eleven years since GigliTemplate:'s release, Brest "went Full Salinger", appearing to have left the entertainment industry completely, without any further credits or major public appearances.<ref name = PB/> In 2021, he appeared as a featured guest at a screening of Beverly Hills Cop and Midnight Run in Los Angeles, where he was interviewed by fellow filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2023, he gave an interview to Variety in which he reflected: Template:Blockquote

Brest has received the American Film Institute's Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award, which "celebrates the recipient's extraordinary creative talents and artistic achievements."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

His essays about art and artists have appeared in various books.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Awards and nominations

Institution	Year	Category	Work	Result
Academy Awards	1993	Best Picture	Scent of a Woman	Template:Nom
		Best Director		Template:Nom
Golden Globe Awards	1993	Best Motion Picture, Drama	Scent of a Woman	Template:Won
Golden Globe Awards	1985	Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy	Beverly Hills Cop	Template:Nom
Golden Globe Awards	1989	Best Motion Picture, Musical or Comedy	Midnight Run	Template:Nom
American Film Institute	1994	Franklin J. Schaffner Achievement Award	Template:N/A	Template:Won
Jupiter Awards	1986	Best International Film	Beverly Hills Cop	Template:Nom
Producers Guild Film Awards	1993	Best Theatrical Motion Picture	Scent of a Woman	Template:Nom
Valladolid International Film Festival	1988	Golden Spike	Midnight Run	Template:Nom
Venice Film Festival	1980	Golden Lion	Going in Style	Template:Nom

Two of Brest's films, Hot Dogs for Gauguin and Beverly Hills Cop, have been entered into the National Film Registry of the U.S. Library of Congress.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" />

Filmography

Year	Title	Director	Producer	Writer	Editor	Notes
1972	Hot Dogs for Gauguin	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	NYU student film
1977	Hot Tomorrows	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	AFI student film
1979	Going in Style	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No
1983	WarGames	Template:Partial	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No	Replaced by John Badham<ref name="Gilchrist" />
1984	Beverly Hills Cop	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No	Template:No
1988	Midnight Run	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No
1992	Scent of a Woman	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No
1993	Josh and S.A.M.	Template:No	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No
1998	Meet Joe Black	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No	Template:No
2003	Gigli	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:Yes	Template:No

Acting roles

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1972	Hot Dogs for Gauguin	Man on Ferry
1982	Fast Times at Ridgemont High	Dr. Miller
1984	Beverly Hills Cop	"bathrobe" Hotel Clerk	Uncredited
1985	Spies Like Us	Drive-In Security Guard
1988	Midnight Run	Airline Ticket Clerk	Uncredited

External links

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