Another classic out of the way. Streetcar was a biggie too. It has peak Marlon Brando and peak Vivian Leigh. Tennessee Williams screenplay. Elia Kazan direction. It's on virtually every "great films" list. Naturally, it had nowhere to go but down when I finally got around to watching it. It's true, I didn't love the movie, but I thought it was pretty good. It is unmistakably an adaptation of a play. That's the sort of thing that bothers me arbitrarily. I loved it in 12 Angry Men and Glengarry Glenross. It was a bit much in Fences. You can feel the Hays code all over this. Even without knowledge of the play, I could sense all the things that were reworked or softened so that it could be released in that era.
Marlon Brando and Vivian Leigh are so damn good that it makes up for everything else. I now have context for a number of famous movie quotes, which is nice. I did chuckle whenever they talked about how old Blanche DuBois was. If 38 year old Vivian Leigh is supposed to be washed up, then what the hell does that make Keri Russell (42), Reese Witherspoon (42), or Heather Graham (48)? For god's sake, Zooey Dechenel, Kristen Bell, and Olivia Munn are all the same age as Blanche. I know, I know. "Different times" or whatever. It's still dumb. I also spent much of the movie wondering if John C. Reilly had ever played the Harold Mitchell role before, because he reminds me a lot of Karl Malden.
I really need to
start finding better angles to come at these classic movies from. It's boring
when all I have to say is "this iconic performance is really good" or
"things sure were different back then".
Verdict (?): Weakly Recommend
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