jeanlevy

Olympia showcases a year in the life of esteemed stage and screen actress, Olympia Dukakis, as she travels around the world for work. It's refreshingly candid and devoid of any glamour or phoniness that many of these documentaries have. Dukakis speaks freely about her upbringing, her failures, her successes, and her struggles to still find herself even at age 80 (and what a spry 80 she is).

If Olympia has any faults, there's the meandering pace which might force some audience members to check out, but if you're interested in the art of acting and what it means to be a working actor, an elderly working actor, or an elderly female working actor, it's a must watch.

Much like the slasher films of the U.S., the Italian giallo movement is more known for its incredibly high highs than it's truly awful lows. It becomes fairly obvious once you start seeking a lot of these films out that there are more lousy ones than great ones, but every now and then, one surprises you and The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh is, indeed, very surprising.

Taking a more thoughtful and character driven approach to giallo storytelling, it focuses on Julie, an ambassador's wife who's gotten out of a troubled relationship with a sadist and just wants to move on with her life. It doesn't help that there's a mad razor murderer out there and her former lover has been stalking her. Even worse, she falls for a mysterious and handsome friend of a friend who complicates things even more.

The stunning Austrian location photography, beautiful music score, and hypnotic presence of Edwige Fenech helps things move along at a nice pace and having interesting character drama keeps things exciting even when the mad razor slasher isn't terrorizing anyone. This might make for a good gateway giallo for those unfamiliar with the genre. It's not as wild or supernatural as some of the nuttier ones and not as deathly dull as many of the lesser tier ones.

I'll be upfront right off the bat - I've never cared for Funny Girl, so if you're a super fan of the show, you can probably throw my opinion away immediately. I saw this to see if the show would be better with the new rewrite and if Sheridan Smith (an actress I like and respect) could bring something new to the material to shake off the ghost of Barbra Streisand.

Unfortunately, it seems like neither the rewrite not Smith can do much to lift this show up. That beautiful score is still intact and just as tuneful and catchy as ever and I can't find a single flaw in that, but this production feels a little cheap, sluggish, and light on laughs.

The first act is better than the second with a mostly engaging backstage/star is born story involving vaudeville legend Fanny Brice who is a self-professed "bagel on a plate of onion rolls." She makes her way from small theaters to the Ziegfeld Follies by her sheer talent and will of steel. Soon, she's a star and attracts the attention of handsome Nicky Arnstein who sweeps her off her feet and leads her down a dark road of heartbreak and hardship.

Though still a bit sluggish, the first act at least entertains, but the 2nd act is a complete slog with the main conflict being Nicky's gambling issues which doesn't make for very compelling theatre. Sheridan Smith tries her best, but while a capable singer, she tends to speak a lot of her notes before ending every song with a socko final note as if someone once told her to always end with a bang and they'd forgive you for slacking elsewhere. Some of her comedy lands, but she seems to be under the impression that making wacky faces is all you need to land a punchline and it hurts her more than it helps her. It might not even be her fault. This show was written and tailored to Streisand's unique talents and, without her, the show suffers.