Mildred Pierce

Lots of us are fans of the 1945 Crawford version, which was heavily condensed and changed from the novel. But Todd Haynes' miniseries IS the whole story as James M Cain described it, so those who felt the TV production is too long probably didn't like the book either. I was glad to see everything included----it made for a long watch, but an immensely satisfying one. Haynes has a real gift for recreating period feel; for realistic tones and colors, costumes, cars and sets, music, everything down to the dust on the furniture of the decaying Beragon mansion. You feel that you're actually watching people in the 1930's and '40's. The performances of the entire cast are wonderful---but, a caveat: a couple of scenes employ some brief and unnecessary nudity, so it's not for family hour. Other than that, this is one of the best book-to-film adaptations I've ever seen.

It's 1930's L.A. Mildred Pierce (Kate Winslet) has been abandoned by her unemployed husband Bert leaving her with their young daughters Veda and Ray. She has been trying to make ends meet by selling her home-made pies. She is forced to take a lowly waitress job in Hollywood. Veda finds out and berates her for embarrassing the family. Mildred tells her that she's preparing to open her own restaurant. Mildred is sleeping with Bert's former real-estate partner Wally Burgan who comes up with a place to start the restaurant. Due to tax reasons, the scheme requires Mildred to divorce Bert. She begins dating polo-playing playboy Monty Beragon (Guy Pearce). He does no work but he gets an income from a fading fruit import business. While secretly away with him, Ray gets sick and later dies. With her waitress friend Ida Corwin's help, her chicken-and-waffles restaurants become highly successful. Mildred doles on Veda but she turns more and more rotten.

This is a five parts HBO mini-series based on the 1941 novel and most well-known for the 1945 film adaptation. For me, this is a tragic mother and daughter story. The drama only gets great when Evan Rachel Wood arrives in part four. The younger actresses who play Veda in the first three parts do their very best. It's not their fault but the drama is limited to a few interesting scenes. This is a failure of adaptation. The first three parts are too plodding and fails to grab the drama by its throat. The saving grace is Kate Winslet and her never-ending humanity. Despite the slow start, she keeps the story going and there is value to a more expansive exposition than the 1945 film. It would have helped to concentrate this five parter into a two or three parter.

I was already a Kate Winslet fan, but this performance has put her on a very short list of those who I have ever been so moved, so filled with respect and admiration.

From the moment we first meet her skillfully making pies (old school like grandma) we see a woman who inspires respect. Her troubled marriage becomes apparent right off, but it's not the unreasonable, irrational type of modern day failed marriage relationship. They come to a mutual understanding that they are not happy married to each other, recognizing their own faults and personality differences that are not making for a happy marriage. He leaves her for another woman and while shocking to her, Mildred's inner strength gives you the feeling she'll find a way to manage, although at the most challenging time imaginable - depression era California! We watch as Mildred works hard to keep her 2 daughters cared for while trying to keep herself from falling into understandable depression.

I'll leave the rest for when the series finishes, but I have never seen better acting than in this series, and a large part of that is KW. I believe her performance brings this series to a level it would not have achieved without her. Of course I must credit the directing, writing, and the story itself, for all are wonderful. I could not imagine any fan of dramatic film not liking this series.

Although the performances of Kate Winslet, Guy Pearce and Evan Racel Wood were all top notch in this 2011 remake, I preferred the original 1945 film. I just found the updated version to be too long. And it really didn't explain things as well as the 1945 version, such as the real reason why Mr. Pierce left his family. I know they make it seem like it was because he had another woman. But in the 1945 movie, it explained why he sought companionship with another woman. He was getting into a lot of arguments with Mrs. Pierce spoiling their daughters--especially Veda. And that's another thing too. In the 2011 version, it really didn't explain why Veda was a spoiled brat. But in the 1945 version, Mrs. Pierce said that she wanted to give the best things for her daughters. Anyway, another reason I liked the 1945 version more was because it had more style. I liked the film-noirness of it. I found the 2011 version to be all so typical and common. Nothing special. I don't know why they even bothered remaking this movie since the original was so much better. 5/10

An excellent drama. 5 episodes. Period detail flawless and captivating in its accuracy. An absorbing tale very well acted by a great ensemble cast who were all flawlessly placed by casting. I was sold on the first 4 episodes and couldn't wait to see the conclusion. Wow! Our lass from "Readin for beddin" was utterly brilliant. Miss Wood showed how very gifted she is as an actress. The two girls had three major scenes together and they were incredibly good, nay quite brilliant. Huge talents, seriously gifted performers. Speechless. Congratulations to everyone, Mr.Haynes well done. I am a bloke so I must admit to being huge fans of both actresses. It easy to fancy some girl on the screen I suppose, but that's not the thing here. A wonderful cast all around. Well done everyone. Well done Mr.Haynes bringing this cast together and thank you for the magic.