User Reviews

Frankly, I was upset when Annette Bening did such great work in 20th Century Women, which a few of you saw, and wasn't nominated for an Oscar. Once upon a time in movies, people related to one another in funny, sad and flawed human ways. That was 20th Century Women and Ms. Bening was pushed out at Oscar time by that beloved film icon nominated for yowling and singing painfully off key. A travesty. Booray for Hollywood. Assessing no blame to our nameless beloved scenery chewer because she can't help getting nominated for merely belching, with or without an accent. Now, having been swept away by Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool, I'm not upset anymore. Ms Bening and Jamie Bell had me at "How do I look?" Tough cookie 50's film star Gloria Grahame stumbled through her life without much love or tenderness. With Jamie Bell's character Peter Turner, she not only found them but allowed them for a little while. I wanted to be there for every moment Gloria and much younger Peter were together. Throw in Julie Walters as Peter's mum, Vanessa Redgrave as Gloria's mom, and, no-slouch-she Frances Barber as Gloria's jealous toxic sister, and you've got a jewel of a film that may or may not get the recognition it deserves. But I've got my memories of the great Julie Walters, as Peter's Mum, crushing me simply saying "time to let go of her, son," and Gloria with her life scars and Peter trying to make it all better for her. And he does. Hollywood can't hurt me or Gloria anymore. She has passed on and my illusions about talent and fine work being rewarded are gone. It could happen though that Ms. Bening, like Elizabeth Taylor before her, gets her Oscar one year and one film later. This time, if it happens, it will be given for this year's best performance by an actress. Because. trust me, it is.

In the late 1970s, Academy Award-winning American actress Gloria Grahame - four times married and deeply troubled - struck up an unusual relationship with an actor from Liverpool called Peter Turner who was some three decades younger than her. This British film is based on Turner's account of their life together and is ably directed by Scottish Paul McGuigan. The director eschews the classic jump flash-back in favour of a series of more subtle slides from one period to another. However, the American scenes are clearly staged in the studio in the interests of a small budget.

The role of GG (Glo to her beau) is terrific for Annette Bening who brings real star quality and a nuanced performance to the part. Jamie Bell - who has come a long way since "Billy Elliot" 17 years ago - does well in the company of such star power and, among the well-cast minor roles, we have the inestimable Julie Walters who guided Billy Elliot all those years ago.

There are some memorable scenes: Grahame and Turner dancing together when they first meet, a recital of "Romeo And Juliet" in an empty theatre (where the real Turner has a tiny role), a clever repeat of the same scene viewed from the different perspectives of the two principals, and of course the farewell departure. Also the attention to period detail is noticeable: that terrible flowered wallpaper, the dial telephone in the hallway, and Elton John's "Song For Guy" (I remember it all).

Annette Benning acts well as Gloria Graeme in this sad story about the end of her life. She develops a romance with a younger man in England when she is doing theatre there. Jamie Bell is a good actor but not exactly romantic lead material.

Don't like the way things had to end. Why didn't she just tell him?

Not a must watch.

Based on a true story, this biographical drama follows the romance between a younger man, Peter Turner played by Jamie Bell, and 1950's black and white former A-list Hollywood star, now aging actress Gloria Grahame, played by Annette Benning.

Set between 1978 – 1981 in Liverpool and USA. The lead actors meet and there is an immediate chemistry, Grahame is diagnosed with cancer and she turns to the Bell family for comfort in Liverpool, where she is welcomed. She wanted to build her strength and recuperate, although the cancer has taken hold and obviously progressed too far.

Their romance only lasts for a few years, we see how this develops into a deep passion through some very clever and well done flashback sequences.

This is a very emotional love story. Jamie Bell provides a standout, convincing award winning performance.

Highly recommended.

We loved Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. It's a movie that can be enjoyed more than once, and in fact, is even better the second time around.

The script, adapted from actor Peter Turner's book, is based on the true story of the final days of Gloria Grahame. Directed like an old-time movie, Paul McGuigan brings to the screen excellent performances by all actors, with exceptional performances from Annette Bening (as usual) and Jamie Bell. This movie is best enjoyed without any preconceived notions, so I will not share anything near a spoiler. Needless to say, however, as most everyone who checks a rating on this movie already knows, a young Peter Turner fell in love with aging Hollywood actress Gloria Grahame, but their time was sadly limited due to Gloria Grahame's cancer.

For those who like to know the basis of what they're watching in advance of viewing a film, there is plenty of background information available. For my part, I watched the movie first, then did some research, and then watched it again. Armed with factual information, it was more meaningful seeing it again.

While not for the very young, this is a movie most everyone else can enjoy. There's enough life lessons here to leave you thinking.

After the first half-hour of this movie I could not finish it due to the idiocy of the plot and the unintentional unlikability of supposed 'nice' characters, but I felt like commenting anyway. Why? Who knows, but basically with everyone scared to say boo to a goose these days for fear of offending some professional whinger online, I'm gonna do my bit for freedom of speech and possibly slaughter some sacred cows along the way. You have been warned.

First of all, the elderly actress in this movie is a complete loon. We see her in a flashback dancing around like a twot and murmuring gibberish in front of a mirror. When I first saw this, I assumed she was in a care facility and the Jamie Bell character was there to take care of her. Oops. This is patently false... it would make far too much sense for this stupid screenplay.

Then she comes onto him, and it's very clear she has a completely overblown view of her own washed-up career. Sadly, Bell being the good-guy-dullard he is humours her at every turn, and by far my LEAST favourite scene where he 'dares' make the 'mistake' of thinking she'd play the nurse in Romeo and Juliet instead of the teenage star-crossed lover herself, she goes into a childish tantrum. This pathetic fit is only remedied by him kissing her passionately, before they start making out (thankfully we don't see it then, but this lack of sexual action is MORE than remedied in later scenes. Alas.)

Yes, this 20-something man is currently dating a woman who is old enough to be his gran. Now, the huge age difference is stomach-churning in itself (I'd feel EXACTLY the same way if it were an older man going out with a much younger girl, before I get any complaints), but the fact he chooses to go out with this preening, whiny, self-centred deranged old diva simply boggles the mind. Also apparently his parents are okay with it... they must be pinning their hopes on this mad lady having a fortune stashed away when she pops her clogs, which would subsequently be inherited by him. This is the only plausible reason why they'd be willing to accept this ludicrous 'relationship' so readily.

Double Standards abound: We find out she has four children by four different men... one of the fathers was a STEPSON she had. Ew. The way the director frames this, it's something we should admire(?) But when he confesses to her that he's 'bi-sexual' like it's the worst thing ever, he feels to need to repeatedly apologise like he'd been caught pushing a pram into heavy traffic. This facet of himself also has no relevance to anything else in the picture, which makes me think it was just part of a box-ticking exercise to satisfy all those politically correct numpties out there. In other words, an utterly pointless addition.

All throughout from what I saw of the film, he has to say sorry for for every little thing he does (including during that whole Juliet nonsense), whereas she monopolises the conversation, picks where they go out, insists on seeing him even when it isn't convenient... geez. Sounds very much like an abusive partnership to me. It got to the point where her inevitable death didn't look like a tragedy, more a chance for this poor downtrodden young man to cut his puppet strings and start a free life. Which I'm pretty sure isn't what the film was aiming for.

What's that, you ask? Anything I liked about it? Well, I love Julie Walters who plays Bell's mother... she's a great actress who does the most with her minimum scenes. Sadly, this was a double-edged sword... seeing them both together reminded me of a MUCH better film you might've heard of called Billy Elliot. I should've been watching that rather than tolerate an annoying harridan and her nice-but-dim toy-boy.

That's it. I'm outta here. Avoid like an Everton fan should a Merseyside Derby. Arf arf.

In the bonus segment of the DVD of "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool," there is an extended interview with the actors, the director, and Peter Turner, the author of the memoir on which the film is based. At one point in the interview, it is revealed that 98% of the film is true, based on Turner's recollections of his romantic relationship as a young man with the much older actress Gloria Grahame. Clearly, the film was intended as a biographical portrait of the actress best remembered for "The Bad and the Beautiful" and "A Lonely Place."

Unfortunately, the film fell flat in developing what was intended as a combination biography, romance, and depiction of a tender relationship of the aging film star and with a young actor from Liverpool. Much of the film sounded "scripted" with references to films and plays.

The one allusion that worked effectively was when Gloria in her late '50s mentioned to Peter that she wanted to audition for Juliet at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Peter corrected her by saying, "Shouldn't you be auditioning for the Nurse?" Of course, that response led to one of their torrid arguments. It also resulted in one of the best emotional moments in the film when the Peter and Gloria read the scene of the first meeting of Romeo and Juliet.

The film also was not served by a structure that skipped around extensively in time. Instead of developing the relationship of Gloria and Peter in a linear way, the audience was jolted in and out of the past. It was especially confusing as the drama was toggling between Liverpool, New York, and Los Angeles. This is really not the way to write a screenplay of a biographical romance.

In the bonus segment of the DVD, actress Annette Bening described the life of Gloria Graham as "tempestuous." Bening's interpretation was mostly a one-dimensional version of "tempestuous." The film was also manipulative of audiences in presenting a crucial scene about the "break-up" of Gloria and Peter in New York. The audience had to endure two rendition of the exact scene with the exact dialogue, before the truth is revealed about Gloria's visit to her physician. The authors of the script do not receive a passing grade in Screenwriting 101.

In the final analysis, the film seemed exploitative in its depiction of a deeply personal relationship that often came across as unflattering. In the extended interview with the performers and the director, it was never once mentioned what Gloria Graham might have felt about this cinematic portrayal of her life. In all likelihood, Graham would have preferred to have been remembered as an Academy Award-winning film artist, as opposed to a "has been" with a youthful, bisexual paramour in a film with too many similarities to "Sunset Boulevard."

Are you ready for your close-up, Miss Grahame?