Feud

Hurrah for Ryan Murphy. He avoided the obvious trap of super camp. This human tragedy is told without winks and secret giggles. It is a tragedy no matter how funny. Two mega stars of its day drowning in personal pettiness and fear. Now with the benefit of hindsight and with the help of their daughters memoirs we know that fame and fortune is not the happy place most people imagine. Jessica Lange's Joan filled me with sadness, something Joan, the actress, could never do. Susan Sarandon's Bette made me want to shake her like she did Miriam Hopkins in "Old Acquaintance". Alfred Molina as Robert Aldrich deserves a mention all his own. Brilliant!

Ryan Murphy managed the virtually impossible. Finding a tone and the tone has to do with the humanity of this Hollywood gargoyles. I wonder if young Joan and Bette knew where they were heading. Those women that their daughters wrote about, were they who they were or who they became. Jessica Lange throws a light on Joan Crawford that made me, already, re-think her myth. Her fear is actually tangible. Great, great performance. Susan Sarandon captures Davis's temperament and allow us a glimpse into the contradictory nature of the woman. Brilliant, succinct observation - when she throws herself into the role of wife and mother, she was thoroughly miscast. Alfred Molina is superb as Robert Aldrich and Stanley Tucci is terrific as Jack "I show you my hemorrhoids" Warner. I can't wait for the next episode.

The whole series so far is a rewarding surprise. No camp caricature here but a serious, incisive portrayal of two iconic characters. Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon create her characters based on Joan Crawford and Bette Davis with such virtuosity that every new episode allow us to go deeper without ever turning into parody. Their reality is parody enough. But what touches me is that Lange and Sarandon, taking our preconceptions into account, inspire us to look at this two women as human beings. My admiration also to Alfred Molina - Robert Aldrich? Wow! Absolute perfection. On the latest episode "And The Winner Is..." Two extraordinary moments: Geraldine Page (A superb Sarah Paulson) taking Crawford's call and surrendering to her request because "She needs it" or Anne Bancroft (a wonderful Serinda Swan) receiving Crawford in her dressing room. Bancroft and Page understand Crawford's agony even from a distance. Compassion at last. I'm enjoying Feud with all my senses. Thank you Ryan Murphy and everyone involved.

Superb. The dream, the wish, the thought. Sitting at a table face to face to say, I'm sorry. Thank you to Ryan Murphy and everyone concerned. Jessica Lange gives a performance that will live for ever, so does Susan Sarandon, in the last episode, her Bette Davis is there, totally, absolutely, chillingly there. What a thrill! Jessica Lange has five or six moments that I think will remain as "acting" landmarks. Alfred Molina's Robert Aldrich, devastating, brilliant! And Jack Warner's Stanley Tucci, a repellent delight. Fabulous eight episodes, eight! Enough to keep us wishing for more.

And by that I mean, for those who can enjoy scenes longer than 10 seconds at a time... I love Feud for many reasons. All of my life I have been the biggest old Hollywood fan and the book 'The Divine Feud'by Shaun Considine from which this series is taking its cue is a masterpiece in studying two characters at a certain time in Hollywood where glamour and elegance (at least superficially) counted for something. I generally have real problems with biopics when actors look nothing like the people they portray but here I managed to get over that. Sarandon is very close to Davis at times though I would say more of a 1950's Davis than the sixties. As for Lange her physical resemblance is miles away from the real Crawford. And yet. They are both utterly believable and utterly exciting in those roles. Other reviewers suggest this is more of a study in fear and in a way it is. The reason it is so fascinating is because that fear still exists. As women age the screen abandons them. And what once was the hottest ticket in town has no chance in making it in the new world. There is also that sense of not really understanding that new world and fighting against it. Someone once said that the real problem between Crawford and Davis stemmed from the fact that they were so similar. And I guess that was true as well... My advice would be to read the positives and ignore the negatives in those reviews. Some folks are simply not understanding that they need to read between the lines and look at the bigger picture. But everything about Feud is elegant and amazingly well judged. And oh! those credits!!!!!!