Cartoline dall'inferno

Great performances by Meryl Streep and Shirley MacLaine. They are both hilarious and poignant in this Carrie Fisher story about a show business daughter coming through the process of working out emotional trauma and baggage in relation to her mother, upbringing and subsequent addiction problems. Also especially good is Gene Hackman in a small supporting role and a cameo by Rob Reiner. Streep and MacLaine carry this film with their talents and are very entertaining as they confront each other and themselves about personal flaws and foibles. What makes this work so well is the smart and oblique humor that is employed to address the internal pain of the main character. I also liked the little jabs at the movie industry itself as well as its nonchalant way of revealing some of it's visual tricks too.

One particular touching and bittersweet scene is between Hackman (as movie director) as he comforts Streep (an actress he's working with) with a sort of lighthearted understanding and encouragement to overcome her drug addiction as he builds her up with appreciation of her talent.

Considering the obvious autobiographical nature of this story for Fisher, it would appear to be sort of a catharsis for her. She does a good job in bringing painful personal issues to light with humor through her writing. Personal pain and demons often seem to be the source of great art and entertainment as well as amusement for many artists and through their art, for the rest of us as well. This is a case in point and definitely worth the time.

Postcards from the Edge (1990)

Mike Nichols is as close to a William Wyler as the New Hollywood (post-1967) gives us. His movies are both impeccable and emotionally taut. They feature the very best production values and impressive acting. And they take chances carefully, which isn't actually an oxymoron. Nichols knows he's pushing boundaries, but within the established forms. Even this movie, with its insider look at Hollywood, feels ingenious in a safe way, with echoes of "The Bad and the Beautiful" but with everyone toned down to a perfect realism.

One of the tricks of this movie, which is a little over the top in so many small ways (again, careful restraint all around), is keeping the acting believable. And foremost is Meryl Streep, lovable and sympathetic but not quite admirable or otherworldly the way older generation actresses so often get portrayed. Streep as a drug-troubled actress is a wonder, and right behind, with deliberate hamminess, is the woman playing her mother, Shirley MacLaine. Add Gene Hackman and Richard Dreyfuss in smaller roles, a cameo by Rob Reiner, and a pretty boy role for Dennis Quaid, and you can see there is something cooking here.

So why isn't this a great movie? It has the trimmings of greatness, even beyond the acting. Story by Carrie Fisher, music written by Carly Simon (and performed by the cast). Photography by German import Michael Ballhaus (who by the 1990s was also working for Coppola and Scorcese).

Well, some might say it really is great. Even though it is lightweight, even airy as a farce, and even though it leaves you only slightly glad, or happy, at the end rather than transformed, you could argue that Nichols intended something with this flavor, and achieved it. Could be. But for a simple example, take his second movie, "The Graduate," and notice the same tone, humor and irony laced with important topical and emotional strains. How different the effect there, and maybe for a couple of reasons. One, I think, is the subject matter here is the famously glib, plastic, unsympathetic world of overly rich, tabloid saturated Hollywood itself. Another is the inherent plot. What happens? A woman overcomes her addiction to star in another movie, and she seems to move a little forward in her relationship with her mother. Enough? Maybe not.

But knowing it's not trying to change the world, you might appreciate the illusory nature of the medium, exposed for us in a whole bunch of different ways (moving props, back projection, doubles used for blocking and framing, lights and camera in action, screening rooms and overdubbing, and so on. This is the stuff behind the drama enacted by Streep and MacLaine and the rest. It's worth watching in its own right.

And Nichols and Ballhaus have filmed this to glossy perfection, layering and moving and keeping the long takes going as long as possible (with an apology by Hackman, as a movie director, to Streep, the actress playing the actress, for using such long takes all the time). It's almost as if Nichols is making fun of himself, and the excesses that cause the cast and crew to go a little crazy.

Brilliant and entertaining? Completely. Probing or socially satirical in any way? No, not even into Hollywood, which is safely behind all these layers. Still, a film not to miss.

Postcards From The Edge is one of my all-time favorites. It's a truly addictive movie that's always funny and touching no matter how many times I see it. Some of the criticism I've read have always seemed just a tad off base, particularly the ones that say that Streep never seems to get a handle on her character--she just acts kind of comically frazzled. Well I think that's the point, isn't it? Streep as Fisher doesn't know what she wants or who she is, and while trying to discover these things, she must battle her drug dependence, rebuild her career against all odds and hope, in addition to trying to reconcile her relationship with her outlandishly domineering mother, who just happens to be a legendary star with issues of her own. In this scenario, "frazzled" would seem to be the way to go.

In any case, those who have commented positively on the movie have mostly mentioned the great performances (as well as Carrie Fisher's wonderful screenplay), and rightly so since this is one the most smartly acted (and well-written) movies you will ever see. But it seems strange that the outstanding direction of Mike Nichols is rarely mentioned. I remember one Oscar ceremony when a producer whose movie had just won Best Picture, and, indeed, swept all the major awards--except Best Director--said "apparently the Academy thinks that the actors directed themselves." It would seem that many of the viewers of Postcards From The Edge think the same thing. In my opinion, Nichols doesn't get enough credit for the seamless way this movie moves or for the crispness of the comic timing. At every turn, he brings out the best in his actors, most especially in the dynamic scenes involving Streep and McLaine. I also love the way he shows, through shifting background effects, how movie illusions are created, which he further uses to illustrate how we often hide our true motivations. (The great example of this is in the scene on the lot with Streep and Dennis Quaid where he was trying to convince her he has always been sincere in his feelings for her--and maybe they should even marry. Then suddenly the background, a house and white picket fence cardboard front, is moved away by a production crew.)

This is a wonderfully entertaining movie, brilliantly acted and written and, yes, superbly directed.

Shirley MacLaine is only 12 years older than Meryl Streep but played Streep's Movie Star mother -to a fare thee well. Closely resembling the real life story of Debbie Reynolds and her daughter Carrie Fisher this film has lot of inside baseball about Reynolds and Fisher. Ms. Streep is as always brilliant as the tormented "Carrie" and Ms. MacLaine is superb as "Debbie". Liked Gary Morton as the agent. Gene Hackman, Dennis Quaid, Richard Dreyfuss, and Annette Bening give fine support to the Stars. Mary Wickes is priceless as Shirley's Mother much resembling the real Mom of Debbie Reynolds if you read Debbie's book.

Mike Nichols deserves credit for brining this story to the screen and even has a great windup with Streep singing over the credits. Is there anything Ms.Streep cannot do?

Shirley MacLaine belts out Sondheim's great song of survival "I'm Still Here" and no doubt Shirley MacLaine is still here with over 50 years a Great star working with great Directors such as Wilder, Hitchcock, Wyler, and co star with Eastwood, Lemmon, Sinatra, Bancroft, Newman, Hepburn, Garner, etc, etc. etc.

Debiee Reynolds/Carrie Fisher or MacLaine/Streep? It doesn't really matter. A comedy that swims around a theme without ever getting anywhere. To see Streep and MacLaine together is enough to make this a collector's item. The cheerful side of the Ingrid Bergman/Liv Ullman grim Ingman Bergman "Autumn Sonata" I know that Carrie Fisher with her American wit was telling us something, something personal but did it have to be so shallow? There is nothing about this characters with a hint of depth. Drugs and alcohol part of a culture in permanent denial. Maybe that's what it is. We're witnessing the replicas of what used to be human beings. The hurt is so flimsy. He may have told a million women that they smelled like Catalina, so what? Didn't she notice the phoniness in Dennis Quaid's smirk? I had to rush and see "Plenty" and stare into Meryl Streep's face to be reminded of her greatness. Not that she's bad here, not at all, she's wonderful, it's the character that made me recoil in horror. Okay, enough of that. the combination of MacLaine and Streep is terrific and the film will keep you entertained even if, like in my case, will leave you with a toxic aftertaste.