Oh. My. God. Shut. UP!That's pretty much how I felt while watching this movie. Fifteen minutes in, and I figured it was going to be a long two hours. But somewhere around the 30-minute mark, things just clicked--everybody in this movie is freakin' insane. Blanche (Vivien Leigh) moves to New Orleans to stay with her sister, Stella (Kim Hunter). Unfortunately, Stella's husband, Stanley (Marlon Brando) doesn't take to liking Blanche much. She drives him crazy, and he shows his quick temper and violent side. But he's also trying to figure out why Blanche is really there and if she's keeping any secrets from them.
There is no likeable character in this movie. A guy named Mitch, who takes a liking to Blanche, comes close. But even he's knocked off his rocker by the end (though I suppose a bit understandably). Blanche is quite literally certifiably insane. On top of that, she's mean, manipulative, cruel, and doesn't even realize any of it. Within minutes of seeing her sister again, she insults her home, calls her fat, and then begs for compliments. And she never... shuts... up. And you know that's bad coming from me, considering I'm a pretty big fan of Toby Turner. Then you have Stanley, who snaps at any little thing and gets violent and abusive. Finally there's Stella, who is dumb enough to keep going back to him (I know, there's development by the end, but still).
I suppose I'll give it up to the acting. Everybody played their part incredibly well. But as I've said in the past--just because something is done well doesn't mean I have to like it. I think Brando and Leigh are deserving of any accolades they received, but I still found them to be annoying. Doesn't mean they were bad. It just means I didn't care for it.
So once I realized everybody in the movie belonged in a mental institution (and what do you know, SPOILERS, they at least partially listened to me for once), the movie was easier to handle. I just viewed it kind of like a train wreck. It's actually too bad Stanley and Blanche didn't end up falling for each other, otherwise I could have made some very poignant Twilight comparisons. Alas, they did not. So instead, I'm just left with a very well acted (though to be honest, sometimes a wee bit over-the-top) movie with totally unlikeable characters. And that's that.
Stop Saying OK! OK.
You are far kinder to this film than I was. I wouldn't even give it praise for acting outside of Brando. Granted I saw it when I was 16 and hated it, but watched it again 5 years later and still hated it. Then again, I loathe Tennessee Williams.
ReplyDeleteAnytime I hear about this movie, I think about that "Simpsons" episode where Marge was in the musical version with Flanders as Brando's role, and that scene where Marge was just flying in the air. Hilarious.
ReplyDelete-Jason
Who recommended this one? Got to question that friendship hahah =)
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure if somebody suggested this one, or if I snatched it off the imdb Top 250 list (mixed with having heard about it for years).
ReplyDeleteIt's funny. I saw this a while back and thought it was awful, but I consistently read raves about it. I figured I'd just missed something, so I'm glad to hear similar thoughts. Blanche is a maddeningly annoying character, and some of the others aren't much better.
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