Jane Fonda in Five Acts

I am in complete awe over Jane Fonda. What an inspiration!! I'm an adult but after watching this biography, all I could say is that she is who I want to be when I grow up. I absolutely love, adore & admire her and everything she stands for! I thank her so very much, for everything!! That aside, I'm really hoping to see her do a movie with fellow former 1960s Sex Kittens, Ann Margret & Raquel Welch!!

I'd like to compliment HBO did such a profound painting of Jane Fonda, a documentary was so subtly made, allowing us to take a long journey with her step by step, stage by stage, seeing her as seeing ourselves from childhood to the final chapter of our life, struggled like a lost soul trying to find the right or the better path of fulfillment of life.

Ms. Fonda is a genuine person, a larger-than-life soul, a part of our civilization through some of our bitter and cruel past of the darkest era and continued to nowadays ridiculous political environment. Her struggles for a better and more humane America seemed to be so worthless that only sparkled a tiny candle light in her life process. Her truthfulness as a human being is somewhat the nowadays Americans who should take a closer look to themselves and, who should ask themselves how come we've lost our decency to ourselves and to all the other people in the world; how come we Americans have become so obnoxious and arrogant, so naive and yet the same time so evil. Ms. Fonda has spent her whole life trying to find her real self unsuccessfully until her final chapter is what we should learn and be reminded. To be true to ourself and to others should be the most important principle of our life.

Highly recommended.

GRADE: B

THIS FILM IS RECOMMENDED.

IN BRIEF: A meditative documentary on the life of Jane Fonda: actress, activist, health guru, and entrepreneur.

JIM'S REVIEW: Talented documentarian Susan Lacy (Spielberg) has once again set her sights on a show biz icon. With her most recent film, she captures Jane Fonda's complex and mercurial life: Jane Fonda: In Five Acts. She structures her film into five stages in Ms. Fonda's life. With title cards titled Henry, her childhood and early times with her father; Vadim (Roger), Tom (Hayden), and Ted (Turner), life with her ex-husbands, and the final chapter named Jane, her later years, the film explores her life as actress, activist, health guru and entrepreneur.

There is much to learn about Ms. Fonda's career by hearing some surprising details about her backstory: her fractured relationship with her unloving father and troubled bonding with her mother, her early start on Broadway and film, her romances with the men in her life who molded her into various roles, her rise to activist causes, her interest in wellness, and her subsequent ventures into producing and mass-marketing herself. Interviews, archival photos and videos, and film clips fill out her story very well.

The film is well researched and the actress is open and honest with her facts and opinions. ("I grew up in the shadows of a national monument...my dad!") But at times, some scenes seem manipulative and staged for empathic effect. Later portions of the film are a direct mea culpa to her neglected daughter, Vanessa, and a plea for forgiveness for some (not all) of her statements and behavior during the Vietnam War when many Americans considered her to be a traitor and nicknaming her "Hanoi Jane". One also wishes more film clips of her earlier films were shown.

What we see on the screen is a larger-than-life profile of a woman fulfilling her life journey...waiting for Act 6 to begin. An insightful film worthy of your time.

The documentary let us know her: her honesty, grit, and courage to accept her shadows. Fonda is, for me, a teacher and her course is life.

So perfectly told. The humanity of Jane Fonda is shown here in a compelling documentary format. Our humanity is full of ups and downs as his hers. To see this film unfold over 5 acts is to see a life lived with mistakes and accomplishments. Hers is a rich life not only monetary, but emotionally and in her growth as a human being. She is a doer and watching her story will only make others want to do. That's a great story told greatly. The production values are first rate. A compelling watch.