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This one actually goes half and half with me so its good and bad (or should I say it's so bad that it's good). I am a living witness (Hallelujah!) that whenever you are feeling down or depressed, watch "Mommie Dearest". But, word to the wise, don't watch it expecting good acting and wonderful relevance to the book, because you surely will not get it. The thing that makes the movie float above the rest of camp classics is the fact that it is based on an informative book by Joan's daughter, Christina. Therefore, it is to be dramatic and realistic like say "Guyana Tragedy" or "The Josephine Baker Story". But this movie is so unrealistic, it is funny. "And if you really want to roll over on the floor and have the mortician come to your house because you died laughing, I would recommend that you watch the whole thing on DVD and with French language (especially the wire hanger sequence). Hell, it doesn't matter if you don't speak the language, Mommie Dearest is like the opera, the emotions and movement will tell all you need to know, without understanding of the language. If I were giving an Oscar to Mommie Dearest, It would be for the beautiful silver dress Faye Dunaway has on... to take Christina's rancid, awful meat to the freezer, just so she can make the little snot eat it the next day. But as for the acting, no way! Faye goes over the top in her hammy performance as Joan, the poster-child for goggle eyed takes, shoulder pads, ankle-strapped shoes, and hypochondriac cleanliness. Diana Scarwid is so bland and uninteresting as Christina. and the rest of the cast... well, they are OK considering the parts they were given. But the only factors that could have made or broke Mommie Dearest were the two main characters therein, Joan and Christina Crawford. Scarwid broke the movie by vice of her apathy to the role she played (I would have thought in all accounts that if a child was abused, they would come out of it with a newfound understanding of their own inner strength and fight like hell to survive, which is what the real Christina did, according to the book. But, Scarwid is so unmotivated. She reminds me of my junior year Biology teacher, inane and in it for the paycheck. I think this performance is what caused Scarwid's Tinseltown demise. On the other hand, Dunaway hams it up and made the picture pass that thin line between drama and camp. Watch the movie. You will not think it Oscar Material but you will not be bored either.

I swear, If I ever consented to acting in this movie, I would punish myself by watching only this movie in my lifetime, then I would proceed to shoot myself in all my toes, eliciting pain and agony... And you know what? It still wouldn't compare to the Horror of having to sit through 93 minutes of pointless innuendos and neoclassic "betrayal" and "incest" and "starvation". Louise Flectcher has the true shining performance here as the diabolical, domineering grandmother. But the rest... Good Lord! Victoria Tennant, the actress playing the mother, Corinne, is so stiff in her acting, atypical of her British bearing. Okay, okay! It may not be nice for me to say that. I mean, look at Miss Meryl Streep. Oscar material. (Did I say that?) Anyway, the boy Chris looks like he is twenty years old. And Cathy doesn't look much younger. So the "situation" they were in was almost laughable because they could have done something about it from day one. I know, the book says they had to stay there and put up with the family crap, but keep in mind (those of you who read the book) Chris was 14 and Cathy was 12, not old enough to predict and prevent their situation, so naturally the book made more sense. But one look at the movie version of Chris and Cathy prompts you to say, "Aw, come on!!!!!!" And please don't get me started on the "Cyborg Children" (The twins Cory and Carrie)! It is clear that someone told them that they were getting paid to do these roles. If I was a kid again and someone said they were paying me 10,000 dollars to be an overactive little brat in need of Ritalin, I'd be shouting, "Momma! Momma! Momma!.." at the top of my lungs with no direction, too. But that is beside the point. These kids don't ooze resilience; they spill bratty annoyance and blow chunks in the process. Of course there are others in the cast (But Do we know who they are?) Overall, Flowers in the Attic needed more fertilizer, and that is exactly what they did not get!

As I saw the movie, I thought of the song "Nobody Knows The Trouble I've Seen" This woman lived through several wars, a husband killed by his own horse, to the civil right era. She was a paragon of strength and vitality, even when she approached 110 years of age. A vitality that some of us younger ones around 17 to 30 years old don't seem to have. Excellent cast. Wonderful makeup job on Cicely Tyson. Good script (although it strayed a bit from the book). I would highly recommend that whoever gets the movie, holds off on viewing it until reading the book, then they can appreciate the feel and the power Miss Tyson contributed to this role. Bravo, Miss Tyson. And Kudos to Ernest Gaines for his book and John Korty for his directorial prowess.