Movie Stats:
Released 1966 (USA)
American, in English (some minor, non-translated Latin & Spanish)
Director - Mike Nichols
Stars - Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, Sandy Dennis
Plot Summary:
Toxic middle-aged couple George (Burton) & Martha (Taylor) spend an evening tearing one another down, much to the horror of their guests, young couple Nick (Segal) & Honey (Dennis), who get caught up in the drama.
Warnings:
Blue language; violence; heavily implied sexy times.
Bad Stuff:
It’s basically just 2+ hours of people yelling at each other.
I don’t find the premise believable. If I was at someone’s home and they began to repeatedly bicker with & tear down their spouse & call them names, I would leave.
I thought Dennis was terrible. I’m genuinely perplexed by her Oscar win for this performance. My husband watched part of the film with me. At one point, he turned to me and said, “Is she supposed to be mentally disabled?” That’s how strange she was in the role, even before her character got drunk.
Good Stuff:
I really enjoyed the opening scene, where George & Martha are strolling home from a party. It’s visually lovely. That and the soft music lull you into a false sense of security as to what the rest of the film will be like.
Apart from Dennis, the acting is very good.
It does a good job of showing all the small ways—and some of the big ways—a relationship can go terribly, horribly wrong.
About the Performance:
Taylor is great. Most roles I’ve seen her in, she’s dignified, refined, and beautiful. In this, she’s a crass, bitter, awful, shrieking mess of a human being. I absolutely loathed her. And that’s the point. You’re not supposed to like Martha. You’re not really supposed to like any of the main characters, except maybe Honey. At the same time, Taylor gives Martha just enough vulnerability that you can feel a little bit sorry for her. I was duly impressed.
Other performances of Taylor’s I’ve reviewed: Giant; A Place in the Sun.
The Verdict:
This is one of those films that I understand why it’s considered good & why it’s a classic. It’s specifically designed to make you uncomfortable. You’re not supposed to like it in the sense that you’re having a good time during it. You’re supposed to watch it with a wince on your face, feeling grateful that you’re not currently experiencing anything like this. It’s like watching a car crash in slow motion. When it was over, I told my husband, “That movie was awful.” I hated it. And yet, as I’ve taken the time to really think about it while working on this review, I recognize how masterful it was. I’m torn between giving it a rating based on how much I enjoyed it (not at all) and how much I admire it (greatly). But I feel magnanimous, so I’ve decided to give it a good rating. Definitely not a film I’d ever watch again, though.
I give it 4 stars.
2 comments:
I have just reviewed my review of this film and was amused to discover I called out Sandy Dennis as being particularly good. I think I could relate to her being trapped in an uncomfortable situation and trying to put a good face on it.
Random Sandy Dennis fact I recently learned. She lived with actor Eric Roberts from 1980 to 1985. There was a Vanity Fair profile of him that supplied me with that information. I think he jilted her.
One of my friends said she and her high school friends watched this film a lot in high school and she can still quote from it extensively. I think experiencing it from an adolescent perspective would have been easier. Watching it when you've been involved with a person for a decent amount of time, it's easy to see how you could turn all your knowledge of that person into knives to cut them down.
I love Liz Taylor in this role. She's so delightfully loathsome. Plus, her chowing down on that chicken was just great.
I believe I read that Dennis may have actually been lesbian (or perhaps bisexual). It's hard to picture her with Eric Roberts. Seems like an odd pairing.
Taylor was indeed very good in this. I feel like I want to dislike her but I don't. She was a good actress.
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