Death Becomes Her
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Movie Reviews of Death Becomes Her
Movie Review: A black comedy sure to brighten your day...
Summary: 5 Stars
My best friend's wife told me about this movie a couple months ago, but it wasn't until the other night that I had a chance to sit down and watch it. I don't know why it took so long for me to actually do since I absolutely adore all three of the films stars. Bruce Willis was for the longest time my favorite actor (I grew up on his macho action films); and seriously, is there any actress as talented as Meryl Streep? Goldie Hawn is a newbie to my list of great actresses, mostly because I never truly have her the time of day until recent years. My wife is a huge fan and so I was forced to accept her and after some time I realized that I had come to really enjoy her and what she brought to each and every role.
`Death Becomes Her' is, as many have noted, a black comedy. It is dark and mysterious and utterly hilarious. At times it is disturbing, at times it is sexy; at all times it is uproarious. The film revolves around two rivals, the successful actress Madeline Ashton and her homely school friend Helen Sharp. Before Helen ties the not with fiancée Earnest Menville she brings him to one of Ashton's shows where he meets and falls for Madeline. After Earnest leaves her for Ashton, Helen slips into depression only to discover a secret that gives her the extra boost she needs in order to exact her revenge against Madeline. The only problem is that Madeline has discovered the same secret; a potion that guarantees them immortality, at a price.
Bruce Willis may be better known for his action performances, but when you analyze them you realize that comedy is not beyond him. His quick witted hero in `Die Hard' is known for those chuckle-worthy one-liners that helped cement him as an iconic character. Here Bruce shines as Earnest, fully fleshing out his characters simple nature which adds to his endearing qualities. A stark contrast to his co-stars, Willis plays down his looks and develops a character that is goofy and reserved and ultimately adorable. Goldie Hawn is fantastic as the witching Helen Sharp. Her beauty is on full display as she seethes and loathes her way into our hearts; seriously.
This film BELONGS to Meryl Streep, though. Her performance is insanely perfect; so much so that I actually felt bad for Goldie Hawn to have been upstaged so drastically. Each and every one-liner just melted off her tongue as if it were liquid gold. In talking to my wife afterwards I told her how you never really think of Meryl as a comedic actress because her dramatic turns have always garnered her more attention. It really wasn't until her double-whammy in 2006 (with `The Devil Wears Prada' and `A Prarie Home Companion') that I took notice of her comedic timing. This is a brilliant example of her range as an actress. Honestly, I don't think there is any performance she can't pull off. Like I've always said, Meryl is always solid; even when she isn't `amazing' she is still better than half of everything else out there.
`Death Becomes Her' may not be ingenious. It's plot is not intricate or necessarily `smart' or `mature' but the script is tightly written in order to keep the laughs bellowing from you mouth throughout the films entire running time; and those Oscar winning special effects (I don't think I'll ever get the image of Meryl's head sinking into her neck out of my head; and quite frankly I don't want to) only help to elevate the films comedic as well as dramatic worth. Zemeckis knows how to get the best from his actors; even when his films are less than brilliant. Here he marvelously draws pure comic gold from his cast, which includes a mystifying turn from Isabella Rossellini as Lisle con Rhoman, the witch responsible for this boatload of laughs.
Movie Review: IRRESISTIBLY NASTY! It spanks the liposucked fannies of Hollywood.
Summary: 5 Stars
Meryl Streep and Goldie Hawn battle Mother Nature, the witch who invented maturity, in "Death Becomes Her." This inventive black comedy ridicules two gorgeous fortysomethings in search of the ultimate wrinkle cream. More cosmetic than cosmic in its approach, it thrives on what it condemns and in its own weird, wonderfully savvy fashion, spanks the liposucked fannies of Hollywood. It's as irresistibly nasty as "The War of the Roses" and as cheerily Gothic as "The Witches of Eastwick".
A tale in four chapters, it begins with Streep's parody of an Ann-Margret-inspired production number that asks the musical question, "When I look in the mirror, who do I see?" and answers, "I see me." Towed about the stage by a chorus of boy dancers, Streep is amazingly good at being bad. How gleefully she heads down Sunset Boulevard in the role of Madeline Ashton, an imperious star whose popularity is falling along with her face instead of growing with her waistline. That night the bookish Helen Sharp (Hawn) brings her fiance (Bruce Willis) backstage to meet her old friend, which is pretty foolish when you consider that Madeline has a history of man-grabbing. And since Helen's fiance is a mild-mannered plastic surgeon named Ernest Menville, we assume he represents not just one man but all who bear the XY chromosome. Well, before you can say, "Don't forget to moisturize," Ernest and Madeline are wed.
Helen, who gains 200 pounds on a diet of cake frosting and enters a mental hospital, returns 12 or so years later to find the brilliant doctor an alcoholic reduced to making up corpses. Motivated by her hatred for Madeline, she has transformed herself into a va-va-voomish beauty-book author who is determined to win back Ernest. Her taut little tush and her chipper little chin leave Madeline in a jealous rage. Madeline would do anything, she'd pay anything to get rid of those darned liver spots. And who should step in but Lancome spokesmodel Isabella Rossellini, ironically cast as a mysterious goddess endowed with a potion from hell. Drink it and you are forever young -- and beautiful, provided you take infinitely good care of your body. Unfortunately, Madeline takes a nasty spill down a flight of stairs and comes up looking like Linda Blair, with her lovely head on backward. When Helen gloats, Madeline retaliates by blowing a hole through her the size of a trash-can lid, after which the two women are condemned to an eternal cat fight. Fed up with the feud, the doctor goes into a new-age phase.
Director Robert Zemeckis, who took us "Back to the Future" (thrice), directs this technically complicated, stylishly imaginative extravaganza with the sure hand of Dr. Menville before he got into Scotch. It's rich in terms of offbeat lines and unexpected laughs, as might be expected from the authors of the kinky thriller "Apartment Zero." It is also refreshingly old-fashioned, reminiscent less of 'Roger Rabbit' and 'Back to the Future' than of '40s screwball and horror spoofs. Overall, this is an excellent black comedy that boasts the talents of three A-list actors at the top of their game. The film maintains both a dry wit and a dark edge throughout, and its wonderful comic book feel gives it an originality, and a refreshing longevity, as Zemeckis (again) takes his audience into a superbly crafted fantasy world.
Enormous fun!
Movie Review: Wild and wicked ways!
Summary: 5 Stars
Everybody knows that Hollywood is full of people who would sell their soul for youth and beauty, but ... literally? They come pretty close in "Death Becomes Her," a delightfully wicked, twisted black comedy directed by Robert Zemeckis -- the dialogue is wonderfully barbed, the comedy is warped, and the quartet of lead actors give the performances of a lifetime.
Years ago, starlet Madeline Ashton (Meryl Streep) stole plastic surgeon Ernest Menville (Bruce Willis) from her longtime rival, dowdy writer Helen Sharp (Goldie Hawn). Consumed by hatred for Madeleine, Helen becomes an obese recluse and is eventually locked up in a mental institution.
Present day (and by that, I mean the 1980s): Madeline and Ernest (now a harpyish has-been and an alcoholic undertaker) appear at the signing for Helen's bestselling book -- and are shocked to see that she's now a stunning youthful bombshell. This drives Madeline to seek out the services of Lisle von Rhoman (Isabella Rossellini), a sensual sorceress who sells her a potion that restores her youth. A small warning: "Take care of your body." Easier said than done.
Meanwhile, Helen and Ernest have been plotting to kill her, and a fight leads to Madeleine falling down the stairs and twisting her head 180 degrees. She's not dead... but not really alive either. And the problem is, Helen has had the same treatment -- meaning that when Madeleine gets her revenge, her rival doesn't die either. Is there a way out of this mess, or are the ladies doomed to eternal unlife?
If you like moral messages with your warped comedy, here's "Death Becomes Her's": a short life lived to the fullest is way better than an empty endless one, and shallow people who try to stay eternally young are pathetic. Nobody can argue with that, but that's not the reason people watch this movie. They watch it for the wickedly warped wit and the hilarious trio of actors.
Zemeckis does an absolutely brilliant job with the sort of gothic-screwball plot, which is the perfect mix of ghoulish humor and slapstick. The dialogue is full of witty barbs ("You're a fraud, Helen! You're a walking lie and I can see right through you!"), and hilarious dialogue ("They took her to the morgue." "The morgue? She'll be FURIOUS!"). And some of the scenes here will make you howl your head off, such as the grand finale -- why can't more movies end this brilliantly?
Additionally, Zemeckis brought out the best in all three lead actors. I don't really like Hawn's acting, and tend to consider Willis' mixed -- but Streep and Hawn are deliciously catty, shallow and a little crazed, playing a pair of thoroughly repulsive women. Willis plays Ernest as a depressed mortician who gets increasingly frantic as the story goes on, and Isabella Rossellini is brilliant as the beauty-obsessed sorceress.
"Death Becomes Her" is the sort of movie I wish they would make more often -- a wild, hilarious dark comedy with a twisted streak a mile wide. A must see.
Movie Review: Cleverly crafted comedy...
Summary: 5 Stars
This one is a gem for sure. I must admit, I wasn't a big fan of Meryl Streep before seeing this. I know, she is the best actress of her generation and I always respected her talent but the movies she usually appear in, more in the dramatic and depressing range, are not necessarily what I want from "the movies". I admit it, I am always looking to be entertained first and foremost and here, Streep along with the whole cast succeeds brilliantly.I usually don't like to give a synopsis of any film I review because other reviewers often do it. And I truly believe that the element of surprise is something most people enjoy when they watch a movie. What I can say though is that this little gem has been grossly savaged by critics at the time of its release for no good reason whatsover even though it was a minor box-office hit.
This is one thing that has always left me puzzled about "official" critics: the way to have of hating most movies that only want to entertain for the pure pleasure of it. I have absolutely no idea why they hated this wonderful production but I don't really care what they think. Audiences of that time loved the mix of fantasy and dark comedy with amazing performances by all the leads.
Streep really knocked me for a loop in this movie. The delivery of her lines in full camp mode, the subtle gestures, the way she struts and moves her body... It makes her portrayal of the vain, conceited Madeline Ashton extremely real and immensely enjoyable. It is a shame she doesn't star in many comedies because her timing is impeccable. Goldie Hawn, Bruce Willis and Isabella Rossellini all make their characters very memorable as well.
Robert Zemeckis did a great job in concocting a truly enjoyable story with just enough special effects (considered quite impressive back then and still adequate by today's standards) to keep it all together. There are many beautiful camera angle and elaborate sets adding to the satirical tone dictated by the subject matter which is a refusal to grow old gracefully.
One thing though that irked me profoundly about this DVD though is the fact that the movie isn't available in widescreen format. Why is that? I mean, for me the whole point of watching a movie on DVD is the pleasure I get to view the film in its original theatrical format and a full screen version doesn't quite cut it. I really don't understand the choice to exclude the widescreen version which should be a prerequisite on any DVD.
But I digress. If you want to get some laugh and be sucked into a wonderful dark world where backstabbing, bitchery and vanity all collide in a beautifully shot and intricate story, this movie is for you. I enjoyed it immensely and my gut feeling tells me you will as well.
Movie Review: Great movie - but dvd could have more features
Summary: 5 Stars
I absolutely love this movie. It is great in so many respects and is much more than just fantastic special effects. It is laugh out loud funny. I never get tired of watching it, and every time I see it I catch something I didn't see before. Sometimes I really wonder if certain actresses who never seem to age really have taken some magic potion.As far as the dvd goes, I have really been craving a "deleted scenes" feature for this movie. I have long heard about the alternate ending that was shot and dropped at the last minute - I remember someone telling me it involved Streep and Hawn's characters on a mountain in Switzerland trying to come up with new things to do or places to go and finding immortality to be quite boring. There are also entire scenes with Tracy Ullman that were fully cut from this movie when her character was completely deleted. And, there is the msytery of the Greta Garbo actress on the end credits. Someone is listed as having portrayed Garbo in the movie, but I have never been able to find her in the film. James Dean, Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, Elvis, and Jim Morrison are clearly at Lisel's party...but I don't know where Garbo is supposed to be (yet, a scene with her was evidently shot, since an actress is credited as playing her). That scene must also have been cut.
I think this would be a terrific film to have some behind the scenese featurette for as well. In 1992, the effects used here were revolutionary...though Forrest Gump, made a few years later, gets most of the credit for being groundbreaking in this field. I remember being totally blown away with what was achieved in Death Becomes Her and would love to know exactly what went into making it. I think it would also be interesting to hear from Zemeckis himself exactly what motivated him to make this movie - I bet he would have some interesting stories to tell about his own experiences with "the walking dead of Beverly Hills".
I doubt they will be making a special edition dvd of this movie any time soon. There isn't any great public demand for it. But, I hope that when the milestone anniversaries of this film come around someone will reconsider this dvd oversight and include all the cut scenes and other standard featurettes that go into dvds these days.
The movie is too good to skimp on this stuff. And I truly would like to be able to see how Greta Garbo was featured in this film. I think that scene could have been really interesting.