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He began to drink heavily, becoming a functional alcoholic, not helped when his sex symbol status brought rumors of infidelity and Woodward's resentment over missing roles to serve as mother to their three children and three of Newman's kids by his first marriage.

The new interviews with adult Newman children are nothing short of revelatory. Their blunt honesty paints a portrait far removed from the official version. Hawke's use of clips from the couple's movies serves as a sharp comment on the resentment festering off screen.

Hawke also takes us behind the scenes to show his Zoom interviews with such actors as Sam Rockwell, Zoe Kazan and Vincent D'Onofrio as they try to tie in the couple's career and life experiences with their own. \"What have you learned from doing this project?\" Kazan asks Hawke -- himself a divorced star with children -- and the question reverberates.

Woodward once threw Newman out of their Connecticut home, forcing him to sleep in his car in their driveway until he agreed to stop boozing, except for beer. Newman began a new career racing cars and the couple made headlines for their political activism and philanthropy.

\"PHOTO:
Courtesy of HBO
PHOTO: Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman are shown in the HBO series "The Last Movie Stars."
>

The death of Newman's only son, Scott, from substance abuse resulted in the formation of The Scott Newman Center. There was The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp for children with cancer and other serious illnesses. And Newman's Own, everything from salad dressing to dog food -- all proceeds going to charity.

Newman laughed at seeing his face on a salad bottle. He didn't even show up when he finally won his Oscar for 1986's \"The Color of Money.\" But Hawke shrewdly reveals how Newman's acting matured with age, especially when he used his alcoholism to play a drunk lawyer in 1982's \"The Verdict,\" arguably his best performance.

Most touching, in clips from 1990's \"Mr. and Mrs. Bridge,\" we see Newman and Woodward as an aging couple bereft of glamor and risk. Now that's acting.

\"The Last Movie Stars\" isn't a Hollywood story. Hawke makes it an achingly honest portrait of a marriage in and out of the spotlight, laying bare the collateral damage that comes from letting life feed into art.

You won't watch Newman and Woodward on screen again without thinking of this unique and unforgettable event. It's essential viewing for fans and newbies alike, and one of the best and most moving pieces of movie love you'll see anywhere.

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