Durk-3

It has long been assumed that, had the music been eliminated from "The Country Girl" and, in the process, taking emphasis off Bing Crosby's singing and more on his acting, he would have certainly beaten Marlon Brando for the Oscar of 1954. Crosby is extraordinary in this film, playing an alcoholic, washed-up actor/singer with few if any redeemable qualities. William Holden, as the director of a new Broadway musical, insists that Bing be cast in the lead role, even though he is painfully aware of the actor's history. Grace Kelly is Bing's misunderstood wife. While all three performances are first rate, it is Crosby who stands so far above the others, especially considering Hollywood's idea of realism in 1954. Kelly, on the other hand, who DID win an Oscar as best actress, seems workmanlike but not of that acting calibur. Miss Kelly was such a glamorous "star" that simply putting her in a frumpy housedress does not a plain and ordinary housewife make! Her last scene, in which she appears in a very elegant evening gown (but with glasses to downplay her beauty) is completely unconvincing. But, taken as a whole, "The Country Girl" is great video viewing!

At $787,000 per minute, "Meet Joe Black" may be the most expensive afternoon nap Hollywood and American audiences have taken in years! With an inane and completely predictable plot, helpless actors who seem to have been told to count to 30 between each line of dialogue, laughably pompous production values and Brad Pitt's particularly lame performance as "Death," this huge ship of fools sinks in three hours while the Titanic only took two!

The many reviews of this film both here and in the press have dealt with the more obvious shortcomings but one cannot deny that Claire Forlani gives the most mannered performance since Sandy Dennis. Her eyes seem to dart everywhere except into those of her fellow actors. She's truly painful to watch.

A ridiculous mish-mash of bad to awful southern accents, over the top performances and sleep producing pacing add up to one of the most remarkable squanderings of talent in film history! Brando mumbles and gains weight steadily throughout the production, Redford struggles to stay awake, Fonda flutters her Max Factor lashes, and Arthur Penn (apparently) takes long lunch breaks between verbal bouts with Lillian Hellman. The infamous fight scene fills the screen with the most scarlet colored blood in film history and the finale, in which the whole town turns out at the local junk yard, is an embarrassing spectacle!