Post by harlequinade on Feb 14, 2017 16:20:34 GMT
What grips you and holds you are the marvelous performances by huge stars of today playing huge stars of yester-year. Lange — who has thrived in Murphy’s employ playing a series of broken and nasty grand dames on American Horror Story — is heartbreakingly nasty as the fragile and toxic Crawford. She blows up Crawford’s “Mommie Dearest” pop persona by deepening it, exposes all the vulnerabilities of a woman who was terrified of showing any. Sarandon, new to Murphy’s troupe, nails the stare, the stiffness, and the blazing, sexy intelligence of Bette Davis, humanizing her without sanding off the edges. She gives us a portrait of a self-aware woman isolated by her talent, who numbs a deep loneliness by throwing herself into work. I can watch them feud forever, even as their tragedy exhorts us not to. B
ew.com/tv/2017/02/14/feud-ew-review/?xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter
ew.com/tv/2017/02/14/feud-ew-review/?xid=entertainment-weekly_socialflow_twitter
But the heart of Bette and Joan, of course, is the dream pairing of Lange and Sarandon. They’re two of our finest living actors, and both give richly nuanced performances that deserve all of the many award nominations they’re sure to rake in. If I have to favor one, the slightest edge goes to Lange, who movingly embodies Crawford’s trembling vulnerability along with her steel spine. Davis is more guarded, still wounded from years of rejection, but Sarandon’s take on her brittle bitterness is no less praiseworthy. And the two of them on screen together are, as you would expect, absolute dynamite.
Since reviving Lange’s career with AHS, Murphy has dedicated himself to showcasing female performances, and actresses have flocked to his projects as a result. Bette and Joan might be the ultimate end-result of that dedication, with two all-time acting greats pushing each other to new heights. Lange and Sarandon pay him back with performances so powerful, they could light up a row of Hollywood marquees. In fact, the two shine so brightly at times that we can hardly see all the other flaws.
tvline.com/2017/02/14/feud-bette-and-joan-review-fx-jessica-lange-susan-sarandon/
Since reviving Lange’s career with AHS, Murphy has dedicated himself to showcasing female performances, and actresses have flocked to his projects as a result. Bette and Joan might be the ultimate end-result of that dedication, with two all-time acting greats pushing each other to new heights. Lange and Sarandon pay him back with performances so powerful, they could light up a row of Hollywood marquees. In fact, the two shine so brightly at times that we can hardly see all the other flaws.
tvline.com/2017/02/14/feud-bette-and-joan-review-fx-jessica-lange-susan-sarandon/
But it still holds together because the true story of what happened when Joan and Bette made a movie together isn’t what’s interesting to Murphy and the staff. Instead, the series commits to extracting a parable about women, power, and the ways in which life twists those things up.
Sometimes, this drags the narrative into moments that feel predictable or obvious — at least if you’re an adult woman, and you’ve spent decades being reminded that in a world run by men, you are, by definition, considered second class. But perhaps that only makes those moments more essential.
“Sucks to be a lady,” one side of “Feud” seems to say. “Bitches be crazy,” says the other. Perhaps the show’s crowning achievement is the fact that it can say both things at once, and both statements feel true — because both statements are symptoms of the same disease.
www.indiewire.com/2017/02/feud-bette-and-joan-review-susan-sarandon-jessica-lange-ryan-murphy-1201782946/
Sometimes, this drags the narrative into moments that feel predictable or obvious — at least if you’re an adult woman, and you’ve spent decades being reminded that in a world run by men, you are, by definition, considered second class. But perhaps that only makes those moments more essential.
“Sucks to be a lady,” one side of “Feud” seems to say. “Bitches be crazy,” says the other. Perhaps the show’s crowning achievement is the fact that it can say both things at once, and both statements feel true — because both statements are symptoms of the same disease.
www.indiewire.com/2017/02/feud-bette-and-joan-review-susan-sarandon-jessica-lange-ryan-murphy-1201782946/