People Like Us

I caught this film on free streaming TubiTV (with ads), and I suspected immediately from a running time of 3+ hours, a release date of 1990, and the opening credits/main music theme that it was a miniseries. My suspicion was confirmed when halfway through the movie, a message "to be continued" appeared along with the ending credits and the next title on the screen was "Part 2".

For those of you who don't know, miniseries were a big thing in the 1980s and 90s, often shown in two parts. The first one was usually aired on a Sunday night, and the next part was often aired on a Tuesday or Wednesday night. Those with multiple parts were aired during the rest of the week (think Roots).

This is a melodrama that's like a pot of water that slowly comes to a simmer but never boils. However, I found it entertaining in a TV kind of way.

There are some good IMDb reviews of this film, so I won't bother to add anything. I will concede that it is overlong and that the ending seems to take forever, but that's the nature of a miniseries in general. What I'd like to focus on is the author of the source material, Dominick Dunne.

Mr. Dunne's daughter Dominique Dunne was horrifically and brutally murdered, and he spent several years of his life thereafter exposing injustice, especially amongst those of the powerful and/or wealthy. I remember him quite well, although I never read the source material for this movie. He was openly dedicated to making the public aware of the failures of the justice system.

I would never speak on his behalf, but I would imagine if he were alive, he would say that if you or anyone you know is suffering from domestic violence (a phrase I find an oxymoron), there is a plethora of support available. If you have a relative, friend, coworker, or neighbor who succumbed to such violence, the wound is never truly healed. Sadly, this movie barely touches on that subject.

This film should serve as a reminder how important it is to document every single occurrence of domestic violence so that there is a paper trail to support it.

This mini-series came out the same year as Bonfire of the Vanities, and it is a similar tapestry of fashionable Manhattan with all the contemporary themes and topics woven in - homelessness, dubious charities, insider trading, anti-gay prejudice, born-again Christians, and the regulation English gossip-columnist.

The opening section also suggests a touch of Sidney Sheldon, always giving you someone to hate, in this case a violent murderer putting the blame on his young female victim and making a churchy appeal for clemency. "I just hope they can forgive me. God has." So has a very spiritual girl who can see him only as a lost sheep in need of salvation, which may yet shorten his sentence. But the victim's father, Gus, has certainly not forgiven him, as he lays a white rose on her grave. "It's not over yet, Becky."

Gus is played by Ben Gazzara - a good face, reflecting many emotions, from inflexible determination to whimsical wonder, while the divorced mother, Ruby, whose complex private life impacts deeply on the plot, is played by the glamorous Connie Sellecca. An incredibly well-kept Eva Marie Saint makes her long-awaited return to the screen as the super-snob, repudiating her son when it's clear he's dying of AIDS (not for "people like us"), yet still presiding over a grand fundraising banquet for AIDS charities. And Jean Simmons lends elegance and grace to the role of the grandmother.

No fewer than 53 featured players make it a little hard to focus on who's who in the zoo, and I wish I could have understood the business with the butterflies swarming round the chandelier, apparently significant. But overall, it's a deeply involving narrative, made more authentic by its background: scriptwriter Dominick Dunne had actually lost his own daughter under these same harrowing circumstances.

Just want to start off by saying that this movie is far too long to be enjoyable. I felt like a movie in the caliber should have only been like around an hour and 40 minutes or something in that neighborhood. I felt like whomever made this didn't know when to cut or when to scrap certain scenes. Just overall poor judgement calls on the director and film editor. I'm not saying that a shorter version on this movie would help the plot in anyway, but it certainly would have helped some, when it comes to watching it. The plot is subparr and not at all worth your while. Frankly I only gave this movie a chance because a couple of actors I knew were in this including Dennis Farina, but not even he could save this boring film. I strongly suggest watching something else ANYTHING else than this rubbish.

I love this miniseries starting with the theme music and the cast. A glamorous cast and several very good subplots that involve murder, infidelity, high society, religious fanaticism, homosexual love, AIDS, snobbery and friendship all rolled into one four hour two parter. Ben Gazzara, Connie Selllica in her best ever role and Award winner for her role Eva Marie Saint as a horrible socialite that the audience will love to hate as I did are all excellent. I have not read the book and I assume that not everything in the book is covered here but that is what happens when books are made into movies, dealing with the time element that a movie has. The setting, New York's upper crust society is very well represented as is the snobbism that is a result of such a social scene. I believe that many of the characters including Ben Gazzara's writer are based on real life characters including the novelist Dominque Dunne who is himself part of the Jet set. I also believe that the film actress played by TV actress Ruta Lee is based on Elizabeth Taylor who became a major figure in the AIDS battle as does the actress in this story. I have to mention the lovely and wonderful Jean Simmons in a small but important role who adds her glamorous name and class to the proceedings and is a throwback to the Golden Age of Cinema from whence she come. Eva Marie Saint is a standout.