Stephen Kijak

You aren’t going to get many answers about Rock Hudson’s happiness in documentarian Stephen Kijak’s film, but it certainly illuminates the chasm between his public and private lives, from the very beginning of his career to his last days in a hospital fighting AIDS. Kijak shows Hudson’s trajectory from a green former GI from Illinois named Roy to becoming the heartthrob and top box office name he became as Rock Hudson. Through it all, he had a string of lovers, some of whom are interviewed for the film, as well as gay friends with whom he spent time, so he could be himself. What makes the film entertaining beyond showing the inner life and personal history few outside Hollywood knew about, is the great movie clips spliced into the documentary.