Gilda Radner: It's Always Something

it should have been awful.

it was a dangerous premise, having mostly unknown actors portray legends, most of whom are still living. (belushi and all the other original snl cast, plus eugene levy, gene wilder, and more.)

these guys did faithful, believable renditions. (i.e. the gene wilder guy had the speech patterns down pat. and the belushi guy resisted the urge to play it loud and cartoonish.)

prepare to be disappointed by some of belushi and murray's behavior. to respect lorne michaels. to admire laraine newman.

but most of all, prepare to fall madly, deeply in love with gene wilder.

from everything i know, the storytelling was journalistically accurate, and despite the unhappy ending, it is not a sad movie.

it got a little surreal watching these impostors do recreations of classic snl sketches. i kept waiting to be offended or have my intelligence insulted or to get bored.

i loved it from beginning to end. i hope they rerun it so i can make everyone i know watch it.

I thought that I would have a hard time accepting anyone as Gilda Radner but Gilda Radner, but it wasn't that hard to swallow. I thought Jami Gertz did a pretty good job and kind of slipped into her so much that it wasn't so hard to buy. She even looked like her which helped. The actors who played Gene Wilder, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd and Laraine Newman also did a good job. Sometimes it was comforting just to know that their voices sounded like who they were supposed to be. All in all, I thought that this film was pretty entertaining and would probably watch it again.

This made-for-TV film -was the BEST possible adaptation of Gilda Radner's "It's Always Something" Jami Gertz --always an ok actress --was FANTASTIC here --this is truly a breakthrough role --and I think, a performance that might well win her an Emmy Award. I --was dazzled! Hope it gets repeated soon -was sorry I didn't tape it!

Jami Gertz may not be the most noticed actress in Hollywood, but her portrayal of the talented legend, Gilda Radner, will get her noticed for sure. I already knew the whole story of Gilda since she captivated me (despite the fact that I was too young to remember her in her heyday) Who didn't Gilda captivate? The legend alone deserves a talent to play her, and that is exactly what it got. In this honest and touching story of Ms. Radner's life, Jami Gertz looks, sounds and acts not only like Gilda, but like the characters that Gilda portrayed on Saturday Night Live's classic early years. As well as Jami Gertz, the rest of the cast portray the other actors in such a way that you don't have to guess who it's supposed to be, it's obvious. There is no "Is that supposed to be Bill Murray?" instead there's, "Oh, look it's Bill Murray!" Gene Wilder is also portrayed perfectly, I found it almost eerie seeing this movie, because it was as if we were really watching them. However, like most Hollywood movies about peoples' lives there are some parts that are "stylized" for effect such as flashbacks, dreams etc... to add to the drama. The difference is in this case it is done well and even enhances the story telling rather than make it look silly. Besides the phenomenal acting, the other excellent aspect of this movie is that it captures the feeling of Gilda herself- despite tragedy, it is uplifting, funny and triumphant, the three things I always thought about her before this movie was ever made.

I think that Jami Gertz should have been nominated for an Emmy for her performance, especially her rendition of the Rosanne Rosannadana routine on SNL. I thought her performance was excellent, and think overall she's a talented actor (my husband and I were just watching her in "Twister" last night and she gives a great performance there as well).