The Rose

I'm no fan of Bette Midler, but I was mighty impressed by her first starring role in "The Rose". The Divine Miss M plays Rose, a Janis Joplin-type, living her last days in a sea of sex, booze, and drugs. The movie shows painfully and slowly how her life goes completely out of control, while her friends and management are helpless.

Midler, unlike the unbearably long line of singers/rappers/divas/bubblegum pop stars who have done acting, can do both and dominate. Midler's Oscar-nominated performance is awesome, and her singing voice is superb as she belts out the songs with panache. If you want to see her do something else besides the endless comedies she does, check this one out.

This was Bette Midler's first starring role in a film and she finally showed the world what a great talent she is. This story is very loosely based on Janis Joplin and it takes place (Supposedly) in 1969. Midler is a famous rock n' roll diva Mary Rose Foster and she's known just as "Rose". She's burnt out and lonely but is kept working by her gruff manager/promoter Rudge Campbell (Alan Bates) who supplies her with shots of adrenalin to keep her going. Rose is an alcoholic and a former drug user and she has a tough past from growing up in Florida. This past haunts her and she keeps talking about showing everyone from there how she has made it. After a country singing star named Billy Ray (Harry Dean Stanton) orders her to never sing one of his songs again and ridicules her morals Rose is furious. She takes off with a limo driver named Huston Dyer (Frederic Forrest) and starts a romance with him. Rudge thinks Huston is just another hanger on but Rose thinks she has finally met her true love. Huston tells her that he's actually AWOL from the army and she tells him of her past in Florida. They have a rocky relationship and Rose meets an Army PFC named Mal (David Keith) who tags along on the tour. This film is directed by Mark Rydell who went on to direct "On Golden Pond" and one thing he has shown in both films is complete trust in his actors. There is very little structure to this film and its mainly just a showcase for Midler. Without her dynamite performance this would have been one of the biggest duds in history. Give Rydell credit for a good eye in giving Midler the opportunity. The film consists of two types of scenes. The concert footage that shows Midler's tremendous voice and stage presence, and the scenes where she's on the verge of a nervous breakdown and the inability to exist in the real world. Its very rare to see an unknown explode on screen like this. Midler is nothing short of riveting and astonishing. Her character is so dark and bleak that an actress of lesser strength would have gave out but Midler has so much energy that she appears tireless. The films cinematographer is the great Vilmos Zsigmond and over 90% of the scenes are either at night or in low lit rooms. This gives the film the dark and bleak look that epitomizes Rose's personality and future. Forrest as Huston is also excellent. Aside from "Apocalypse Now" this was his finest performance and the two of them have real chemistry on screen. Forrest spent most of his career playing hardnoses or heavies but here he plays a real normal guy who is at odds with himself and if he should remain with the always drunken Rose. The film does go way too long and some of the scenes are pointless. It seemed irrelevant when a former lesbian lover pops up out of nowhere and Rose and Huston have a big fight. This part of the film could have been edited out completely as it serves no purpose. Ponderous handling of the material by Rydell but with Midler's gut wrenching performance it becomes a film that is ultimately unforgettable.

"The Rose" -which they say was inspired by Joplin's life- has stood the test of time quite well;the main reason is Bette Middler's sensational performance .She has not still yet found another part as rewarding as Rose .Full of strong scenes and of extraordinary renditions (the title track and "when a man loves a woman" particularly),it grabs you till the last picture (a light which goes out).The scene in the gay nightclub where another Rose,"Diana Ross" and "Barbra Streisand" join the singer for a song is almost scary.So is that scene when a respectable country singer -Rose covered one of his songs - treats the poor girl like dirt ,this man must be a saint or else he is a hypocrite:could you imagine ,say,Kris Kristofferson blaming Janis Joplin for covering "Me and Bobby McGee " ,a tune she took to number one ? With fine support from Alan Bates as the evil manager and Frederick Forrest as the big hearted deserter,"the rose" still remains one of the best film about the cruel thankless world of rock.It avoids the mistakes of movies dealing with true stars (Ray Manzarek did not think much of "the Doors" ).

The Rose is a fairly good loose depiction of the life and tragedy of Janis Joplin. Bette Midler more than pulls it off as the title character. She plays a singer who seems larger than life when she's on stage, but once she steps off it, we see a troubled and lonely woman on the brink of a complete breakdown. In an early scene, Rose pleads with her manager (Alan Bates) to give her a year off to presumably dry out and rest up. Her manager scoffs at this notion more than once throughout the film as there is just too much at stake financially if she stops performing for a while. We see Rose sink deeper and deeper into depression and alcoholism as the film goes on from one performance to another. Along the way, Rose meets up with a limo driver (Frederic Forrest) with whom she has a fling. Houston, as he's called, is drawn to this rich and vulnerable woman, but he cannot deal with some of her personal circumstances. He feels a lot of the attention she receives comes from the wrong people and for the wrong reasons. Rose really likes this guy, and the troubles she has with him really make things a lot worse as the film moves toward its conclusion. That being a concert which will be held in her home town. She also has an ambiguous relationship with David Keith who plays a young soldier she meets up with in an airport scene. Keith is supposedly hired on as a bodyguard, but his true purpose is never really explained. Problems with both people and substance abuse build throughout the film, and the conclusion can be seen from quite a ways off.

The film has several good points. First off, the acting is terrific all around. Midler has the feisty character down perfectly. Alan Bates as her manager is top drawer, too. Their conflict creates perhaps the most memorable scenes. Forrest mostly underplays as a country boy along for the ride who has a hard time coming to grips with this wild woman who has just fallen for him. Nobody comes up short in the acting department.

The down side to this film deals with Ms. Midler's singing. Director Mark Rydell has to toe a pretty thin line in terms of what this film is trying to be. Is it a musical vehicle built around Midler's singing ability, or is it a drama about a tragic musical figure? To his credit, Rydell pretty much has it both ways. Midler's singing ability is what it is. Personally I can take or leave it. Do some of the songs go on too long? For me, yes. I would have preferred more dialog and less music. But hard core fans of Midler will love the songs.

The idea this film effectively conveys is that celebrities are often some of the most lonely people on earth. True, they are surrounded by all kinds of staff and get all kinds of attention from fans, but beneath all of that there really isn't much to it for most celebs. The way they live, especially musicians who constantly tour, gives them little time to settle down and experience traditional friendships or romantic relationships. Notice how in an early scene, Rose practically falls down the stairs of an airplane, and nobody helps her! Her band just casually gets on a bus and her manager grudgingly goes over and helps her up after a moment. Regular people who are neither rich or famous often cannot fathom how some celebs seem to self-destruct before they've even had long careers. (Britney Spears would come to mind.) Truth is, we humans are all basically creatures of duality. No matter who we are, we all have our good and bad times. Most people can get through the bad times with the help of friends and family. Celebrities however have a lot farther to fall than most people when things start coming apart. Other than expensive rehab facilities which seldom work, a celeb usually has nobody else to turn to that can deal with them as a real person while they attempt to overcome their demons. That said, is it any wonder so many of them go from top of the world to down in the gutter seemingly overnight? 7 of 10 stars.

The Hound.

Originally intended as a flat-out biography of Janis Joplin's last days titled "Pearl" ( Janis' nickname and alter-ego ) the filmakers allegedly ran into privacy issues with the Joplin family which caused them to take a more "loosely based" approach of a "composite" character! Even Bette Midler herself had some ideas of her own that promised to provide a fictious portrayal! Since I had always found Janis Joplin's life both fascinating and tragic I had to write off seeing this movie in the theatres when it first came out in 1979.It wasn't until sitting through it on HBO that I could truly appreciate how utterly great Bette Midler's performance was!It certainly stayed close enough to the "truth" while adding some dynamic elements that a Janis biography portrayed by anyone else would have sorely lacked! Bette Midler is truely at her best! She pours out her heart and soul into this role and leaves nothing behind!Her rock concert scenes alone show her broad talent as a stage performer! Her scenes drunk & stoned give a rare glimpse into a lonely and crazy world of rock stars(like Janis Joplin was!) Her scene with her childhood country-music idol reminded me of a similar situation between Janis and Johnny Cash! Her former lesbian lover is reminiscent of Janis' one-time "biographer/lover" Peggy Caserta! The "homecoming" concert at the film's end reminded me of Janis' 10-year-highschool reunion which she attended only shortly before her death! All in All I regret not having seen (in the theatre) this "loosely based" and yet "thinly disguised" story of Janis!With Bette Midler at center stage it stands as both a glowing tribute to Janis AND Bette!