The Rose

As a pumped-up, neurotic 1960s rock star named Rose, Bette Midler energizes this film with a soulful, emotional performance deserving of Oscar recognition. Midler animates the character so well that, paradoxically, she rather overwhelms the film's plot about a famous singer who nonetheless is insecure and fragile.

I would estimate that roughly a quarter of the film's runtime consists of Midler on-stage singing and performing in front of an audience of hundreds, and in one case thousands, of extras as part of a real-life concert. The technical logistics of putting together such a believable event is quite impressive, with multiple cameras, special effects, complex lighting, and in only one camera take.

The non-concert plot has Rose in various states of emotional highs and lows, mostly lows, as she laughs and cries, whines and moans, and argues and fights with those around her. This is a lady who is controlled by emotion, not reason or logic. She laughs one minute, cries the next, then laughs, then cries some more.

As such, the plot trends emotionally repetitive, though we as viewers sense that all this enormous gushing of raw feeling can't continue indefinitely. And thus with great effect, the film has a dramatic ending, one that combines character resolution with stunning visuals, followed by end credits set against the musical backdrop of Amanda McBroom's moving, hymn-like title song, "The Rose".

By far the best element of the film is Midler's electrifying performance. Yet, the concert footage and film editing are also impressive. The weak link is a plot that, though acceptable, seems anemic in comparison to Midler and the stunning visuals.

Inspired by the unnerving musical career of Janis Joplin, "The Rose" presents viewers with an emotionally moving story, character driven, that is set within an overall film production that is technically both competent and credible.

The Rose is about a woman whose sole purpose in life was to give of herself completely. Protected from adult responsibilities by her manager, "Rose" dug further and further inside herself, alienating all those who loved her. With an adolescent attitude toward life, she indulged in every excess. The poignant scene in the phone booth, where she overdoses on a lethal combination of pain killers, heroin, and booze is certainly worthy of an Academy Award. We feel her pain, and we really believe we are seeing a woman in the last hour of her life. Killing herself before our eyes, yet we are helpless to stop her. We can't stop watching. The final scene, and the final song Rose sings, Stay With Me, is filmmaking at its best. It sums up her life, and the life of so many talented musicians (Kurt Cobane, Jim Morrison, etc). Rose was desperate to have someone, anyone, who was there just for her. Yet she pushed everyone away who truly cared about her. Bette Midler's passionate and inspired performances in concert footage is unforgettable. The Rose is one of the best movies ever made.

"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!