I'm at a loss to explain the success of this movie. It's not that it was awful, but I didn't see anything that special about it. Maybe there was something groundbreaking in 1979 that I'm missing, having not seen it then.
Short form, I feel like all I saw was Bette Midler alternately crying and screaming. This may well be what such people go through, and to her credit, Midler cries and screams with the best of them, but I'm exhausted, and not in a cathartic way. I'm exhausted from trying to find some reason to care about this character, who never seems to be empathetic, and never seems to make any good decisions. To make matters worse, I've watched the film on This TV, which pads movies with extra commercials, so I've had three hours of crying and screaming.
If this truly was Janis Joplin's life, if there was never a happy moment for her to just relax and enjoy, then I feel for the poor child.
Short form, I feel like all I saw was Bette Midler alternately crying and screaming. This may well be what such people go through, and to her credit, Midler cries and screams with the best of them, but I'm exhausted, and not in a cathartic way. I'm exhausted from trying to find some reason to care about this character, who never seems to be empathetic, and never seems to make any good decisions. To make matters worse, I've watched the film on This TV, which pads movies with extra commercials, so I've had three hours of crying and screaming.
If this truly was Janis Joplin's life, if there was never a happy moment for her to just relax and enjoy, then I feel for the poor child.