This is mostly very dumb, a cynical, cash-grabby answer to both Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve. It even goes so far as to steal the bones of Sunset’s plot and Eve’s leading diva.
But I don’t hate it! If anything, I wish it was dumber.
The Star gives Bette Davis a feast of scenery to chew on and she doesn’t disappoint. The scene towards the beginning where she’s driving drunk around Hollywood, babbling to an Oscar statuette (one of Bette’s own, of course) propped up on her dashboard was ridiculous in the very best way. If the movie was just 90 minutes of that, I would have it on repeat for the rest of my life.
And then there’s the fact that the character is allegedly based on Joan Crawford. Drunk. Delusional. Washed up. “Box office poison.” The makeup, which is basically Crawford drag. It’s deliciously messy.
At its worst, it’s a mediocre melodrama. At its best, it’s sublime camp. Kind of like Bette’s entire career, down to the fact that she’s singlehandedly carrying it.
This is mostly very dumb, a cynical, cash-grabby answer to both Sunset Boulevard and All About Eve. It even goes so far as to steal the bones of Sunset’s plot and Eve’s leading diva.
But I don’t hate it! If anything, I wish it was dumber.
The Star gives Bette Davis a feast of scenery to chew on and she doesn’t disappoint. The scene towards the beginning where she’s driving drunk around Hollywood, babbling to an Oscar statuette (one of Bette’s own, of course) propped up on her dashboard was ridiculous in the very best way. If the movie was just 90 minutes of that, I would have it on repeat for the rest of my life.
And then there’s the fact that the character is allegedly based on Joan Crawford. Drunk. Delusional. Washed up. “Box office poison.” The makeup, which is basically Crawford drag. It’s deliciously messy.
At its worst, it’s a mediocre melodrama. At its best, it’s sublime camp. Kind of like Bette’s entire career, down to the fact that she’s singlehandedly carrying it.
