Demme’s father’s career as a marketing executive, whose connections gave the younger Demme his professional start. Jonathan was a huge movie buff since childhood, and wrote film reviews for his college newspaper, The Florida Alligator. After college, Demme moved to New York City and eventually got a series of low-level jobs in the film industry. These led to his first directorial assignments for Roger Corman and his first marriage.

Demme’s commercial output was considerably less than that of many acclaimed directors. He received directorial credit for 17 dramatic films over 40 years. After his twin career highs in The Silence of the Lambs and Philadelphia, he directed only six more dramatic movies in the last quarter-century of his life. But Demme wasn’t idle during those years. He directed many documentaries, including some of the best concert films ever made. Demme was devoted to a variety of liberal and progressive causes, which led to his documentary about Jimmy Carter, The Man from Plains, and projects about Haiti. (Demme was a collector of Haitian art.)

The book is at its best when it discusses the business of making films. Demme’s vision for his movies rarely survived to the final cut, as studios often made changes to, in their view, improve a movie’s potential profitability. In his first major directorial assignment, Swing Shift, Demme clashed with star Goldie Hawn, who didn’t like the portrayal of her character. Hawn won, and Demme had little say during the rest of the shoot. Demme also fought with Oprah Winfrey during the making of Beloved. Two remakes, The Truth about Charlie (a remake of the Cary Grant-Audrey Hepburn vehicle, Charade) and The Manchurian Candidate, proved ill-advised and didn’t fare well, despite casting Meryl Streep in a role made famous by Angela Lansbury 40 years earlier.

There’s No Going Back documents Demme’s difficulties, but also his successes, including prevailing on the casting of The Silence of the Lambs. (The studio originally wanted Sean Connery and Michelle Pfeiffer as the leads.) One reason for Demme’s success was his determination to keep using the same production personnel throughout his early career. These technicians had developed a good personal and professional rapport with Demme, which allowed the work to progress more smoothly. The book gives readers a better sense of how editors, cinematographers, and other technicians are selected and how those choices affect the finished product.

Although the book gives readers an incisive look into the business decisions involved in the filmmaking process (at least from the perspective of Demme’s films), I had hoped for more insight into Demme’s technique with actors. Anthony Hopkins and Tom Hanks have produced Oscar-worthy efforts for multiple directors in their careers. However, Christine Lahti, Mary Steenburgen, and Dean Stockwell received their only Oscar nominations in Demme’s films. I found relatively little about Demme’s techniques with actors or in general. The most detailed information was contained in the discussion of concert films like Stop Making Sense.

Readers accustomed to salacious tell-all celebrity biographies could be disappointed in There’s No Going Back. The author covers the relevant details of the director’s life but doesn’t delve into Demme’s personal or private life. There’s more discussion about the blossoming on-set romance between Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell (which has lasted until this day) on the set of Swing Shift than romantic details about either of Demme’s marriages. However, the meat of this book is the discussion of how movies get made and how Jonathan Demme worked within and outside of the system. I’ve read books that go into detail about the production of classic individual movies. However, this is the first time I’ve seen an author take a similar approach to a director’s entire oeuvre. There’s No Going Back isn’t the definitive biography of Jonathan Demme, but it’s a great starter.

NOTE: The publisher graciously provided me with a copy of this book through NetGalley. However, the decision to review the book and the contents of this review are entirely my own.