Frances
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Movie Reviews of Frances
Movie Review: more or less accurate; strong performances
Summary: 4 Stars
This is from 20 years ago or so---the mostly true story of outspoken actress Frances Farmer, beset on all sides by her pushy mother, Hollywood gossip columnists, and movie studio suits. The lobotomy scene has been discredited, but the rest--with the lunatic asylums and all their accompanying unpleasantness-- may be true. Jessica Lange gives a powerful performance alongside Sam Shepard and Kim Stanley. Great perfomers, all.
Movie Review: Jessica Lange's greatest performance...
Summary: 4 Stars
... and that's saying A LOT. This is not a perfect film, but it's well worth watching just for her amazing interpretation of Frances Farmer.Movie Review: Frances
Summary: 4 Stars
A tour de Force from Jessica Lange in its early days and possibly an outstanding performance of a great actressMovie Review: Superficial script, but what a performance from Lange!!
Summary: 3 Stars
A specious account of the troubled life of actress Frances Elena Farmer that is saved by Jessica Lange's incredibly powerful performance. When we first meet Frances as a high-school student, her strong independent character is already formed after she wins first place in an essay contest with "God Dies", an incendiary piece of writing for anyone in 1931, let alone a young girl. The resulting public outcry and controlling manipulative reaction of her mother are a harbinger of what will come. From this early scene the outcome is inevitable, and we become voyeurs of her climactic rise to stardom with the film "Come and Get it" to her dramatic slide into a hellish world of drugs, arrests and brutal, primitive mental institutions. Unfortunately, the script goes out of its way to contrast the independent minded, strong willed actress with contemporaries that are no more than flaccid caricatures. The history of the time is likewise simplified in stereotypical fashion. While this perspective does isolate Frances all the more, the effect is neutralized by the addition of a fictionalized long time friend named Harry. It's great that he is always there with words of encouragement and a shoulder to cry on, but the real Frances never had a Harry. Despite the obstacles presented by a superficial script, Francis is a painful, difficult film to watch and one that stays with you a long time.Movie Review: A bit raw
Summary: 3 Stars
Apparently most people disagree with me on the rating but I'm not all that impressed with the overall film. The acting by Jessica Lange was good but the others did an average job at best. A lot of raw emotions flying around on the screen - is it acting or over-acting? The movie is mostly disturbing and defintely not one to watch when you're looking for a warm and fuzzy movie night. The language is surpsingly profane for not only the time period but the rating, too.