Premise: The story of the relationship of Playmate Dorothy Stratten that ended in her death.
This is another reaction I've had to rewrite a couple times because of computer issues. It's really annoying too, because I have a hard time explaining my thoughts on the film. To start, I don't understand how this is a movie made by an Oscar winning director (Bob Fosse), released by a major studio (WB), and starring an Oscar nominee (Mariel Hemmingway). I don't mean that because the movie is bad. I actually quite liked the movie. It's just, on paper, this sounds more like a movie of the week. Stratten was murdered in mid-1980. This was released only a couple years later in 1983. Hugh Hefner sued the movie for how he was depicted in it. They couldn't even get the rights to use Peter Bogdanovich's name. These are not the description you'd expect for an awards-contending movie.
It all comes together pretty well though. Fosse's direction injects so unexpected life into it. It's a lively movie that does a great job mirroring the exciting new life Stratten was living with the doomed end she was racing toward. Hemmingway is really lovely. She has the looks of a Playmate while also pulling off the girl next door charm. It's hard to remember that Stratten was only 20 when she died, but it explains how she could live so much of her life so passively. Eric Roberts is tremendous in the movie. I always hate saying this about performers, but he plays a creep so well. As Paul Snider, he's desperate and pathetic but charismatically so. I could see how he inserted himself into so many circles successfully.
Verdict: Weakly Recommend
No comments:
Post a Comment