When one thinks of memoirs by actors or people in the film business one is inevitably drawn to names like David Niven, Stephen Bach or Julia Phillips. In the future, however, Minnie Driver will have to be added to that list based on Managing Expectations, a superior actor’s memoir which takes in childhood, young adulthood, moments of an acting life, and the importance of family. If you wonder how one negotiates the whims and weirdness of the film business while trying to remain a person in touch with the real world, Minnie Driver’s Managing Expectations goes some way to explain how that’s achieved. Not so much a kiss and tell and settling of scores, as a whip smart reflection on the good, bad and ugly of a life lived in a lens and how one maintains grace, dignity and a sense of humour - and how life outside the lens is just as important. One can’t help feeling that Minnie Driver’s pre-Hollywood life and the support structure offered by her mum and sister has helped her to remain grounded and tough enough to resist the creeps and predators in the film industry. For info there’s little time wasted on the aforementioned creeps and predators but the bits and pieces she cares to comment on reveal that they’re out there and capable of causing great damage. Funny, pithy and full of great lines, Managing Expectations is not only a future classic but, maybe, evidence of a second act just as successful as the first.

Managing Expectations – Minnie Driver – publ. Manilla Press- £20.00

Steven Long