A relationship portrayed by Annete Bening and Jamie Bell? (90p – yowch! That leads to one of several flashbacks, cinematically backlit by Scottish director Paul McGuigan, as Peter first encounters Gloria as a new resident in the shabby London boarding house where he lives. The lustrous and mythic black-and-white celluloid, so different from modernity’s colour, make it seem like she came from another planet. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool review: Love story ponders the nature of acting By Jake Wilson Updated February 28, 2018 — 3.23pm first published at 1.44pm She was in the endgame of her career yet maintaining a never-say-die optimism, looking for stage work in Britain and suppressing worries about her health. The movie makes the right decision to focus on the humanity and compassion. for language, some sexual content and brief nudity. schumann_bg. Despite some great acting, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is a largely unpleasant viewing experience and the downbeat tone isn’t helped by a narrative that flits back and forth in time without rhyme or reason, sometimes confusing the viewer with the needlessly convoluted transitions from flashback to present (and vice versa). Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is based on the life of the real Gloria Grahame, an Oscar-winning actress largely forgotten now. P aul McGuigan’s Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool opens with Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening) preparing to go on stage in a British production of Tennessee Williams’s The Glass Menagerie.Grahame regards herself in a backstage mirror, applying makeup, pouring milk into a wine glass, and eventually lighting a cigarette. She immediately goes into vamp mode, asking if he has seen “Saturday Night Fever” before inviting him to do the Hustle with her to “Boogie Oogie Oogie.” The result is a deliriously giddy dance-off powered by mutual attraction as Peter pulls off John Travolta’s signature split. Verified Purchase. Suddenly, right before the show begins, the actress crumbles to the floor in pain. By the time actress Gloria Grahame passed away in 1981 at age 57 she was largely forgotten. (Most of us have probably seen her briefly in It’s a Wonderful Life, where she played Violet Bick). It’s a scene that allows us to believe in their romance, and allows us to have a romance with the pair of them. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, 2017. Expectations for Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool were high, despite the clunky title, following a charming trailer and intriguing, true-story premise. Top reviews. Please try again later. Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool Review. There is a tremendous warmth and tenderness to this sweet, sad love story starring Annette Bening and Jamie Bell – a stranger-than-fiction true romance that unfolds in Los Angeles, New York, London and Liverpool – and there is a bittersweet rightness in a new song from Elvis Costello over the closing credits: You Shouldn’t Look at Me That Way. Our original picture from the … With Annette Bening, Jamie Bell, Kenneth Cranham, Julie Walters. 5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant and well acted throughout. The only answer that “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” provides is Annette Bening’s marvelously helpless performance as a 50-something Grahame. As an unknown, struggling young actor in the late 70s, Turner met and fell in love with Gloria Grahame, the legendary Hollywood star and Oscar-winner who, incredibly, was living in the same north London boarding house. 2017; UK; 1h 45min; 15; Directed by: Paul McGuigan; Cast: Annette Bening, Jamie Bell, Kenneth Cranham, Vanessa Redgrave, Frances Barber, Julie Walters; UK release: 17 November 2017; London, 1978: young actor Peter Turner (Bell) meets and falls in love with 50s film star Gloria Grahame (Bening). And Bening is excellent as Grahame: imperious, vulnerable, romantic, sexually excited about her younger man, wanly aware of secrets she cannot share with him. In the end, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool deserves little … TOP 500 REVIEWER . Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool review – Annette Bening and Jamie Bell in stranger-than-fiction love story. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool showcases brilliant work from Annette Bening, whose performance is more than enough to outweigh this biopic's basic narrative. It is very touching when Gloria first invites Peter into her room in the middle of the day to do a little disco dancing, ostensibly because she needs someone with whom to rehearse a routine. 4.2 out of 5. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is as sad and awkward as its title. 2, director Nicholas Ray. It is somewhat ironic when Peter declares that Gloria “just oozes tragic romance,” since that is the path where their relationship will soon be heading. Reviews & Commentary Add a Review User Reviews . In "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool"we see the last 3 years of her life when she was having an affair with a man 28 years younger One of my favorite behind the scenes in Hollywood is the film "The Bad and the Beautiful" for which Gloria Graham won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. It alludes to some statements on the broader picture but is mainly focussed on the more … Susan Wloszczyna spent much of her nearly thirty years at USA TODAY as a senior entertainment reporter. •Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool screened at the Telluride film festival, and will be released in November. stars 4 out of 5 stars. However, when it comes to ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’, Bening is again giving a wonderfully luminous performance – it’s just a shame that this time, the film isn’t quite on her level. Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool Review. Expectations for Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool were high, despite the clunky title, following a charming trailer and intriguing, true-story premise. Tweet. 4, Anthony Ray, were intimate when he was 13 and she was his stepmom while wed to husband No. FILM STARS DON'T DIE IN LIVERPOOL: 4 STARS. Onsite Associates Program . Lave watched "Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool" and now he's telling you what he thought about it. Now unchained from the grind of daily journalism, she is ready to view the world of movies with fresh eyes. Unfortunately, for the most part, “Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool” steadfastly sticks to the period between 1979 and 1981, when the then-single Grahame had a fling with a British stage actor in his late 20s, Peter Turner, before she succumbed to breast cancer at age 57. They had a relationship for around three years which ends prior to a phone call from Lancaster, where she has been acting in a play to say that she is gravely ill. Twitter *NOTE: This is a reprint of my review from the Middleburg Film Festival. Of course, it is a seduction, and yet there is something very innocent, and absurd, and almost childlike, about the pair of them bopping around her room. Home » Reviews » Movie Review: ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’ Reviews. Read 100 reviews from the world's largest community for readers. Nominated for Outstanding Debut Feature at Cinema Eye Honors, Celebrate The HistoryMakers 20@2020: 20 Days and 20 Nights Streams Online Through December 20th, The Mandalorian Chapter 15 Recap: Those Poor Mudscuffers, The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone. Pricey!) “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” is a tawdrier, more tragic, but similarly superficial “My Week with Marilyn,” devoted to the dying days of an actress who always lived in Monroe’s voluptuous shadow. here is a tremendous warmth and tenderness to this sweet, sad love story starring. Why, I only wear it when I don't care how I look.”, Unfortunately, for the most part, “Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool” steadfastly sticks to the period between 1979 and 1981, when the then-single Grahame had a fling with a British stage actor in his late 20s, Peter Turner, before she succumbed to breast cancer at age 57. Her career in the tabloids outlasted her fame on the screen, and she was allegedly obsessed with her beauty. Bell taps into his Billy Elliot spirit for this, and Bening is herself no mean dancer. "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool" (2017 release; 107 min.) Dir: Paul McGuigan. Turner met the film noir legend when they both rented rooms in a London boarding house in 1979. In ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool,’ Annette Bening plays screen siren Gloria Grahame in her waning days when, terminally ill, she reconnects with a much younger former lover. But it’s the lack of one other ingredient -- saccharine -- that makes the emotional life of a film about a faded movie star feel true and real. The curiously titled “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” focuses on the rather melancholy final days of Gloria Grahame, whose come-hither features and figure got her pegged in the ‘50s as Hollywood’s go-to femme fatale in a series of black-and-white film noirs. Movies: Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool; Once a Hollywood star, Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening) is now doing theatre in … Directed by Paul McGuigan. It’s a beguiling story and Bell and Bening are tremendous as the star-crossed lovers. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool is a tender portrait of faded glamour: EW review By Leah Greenblatt December 22, 2017 at 10:26 AM EST It’s 1981, and Oscar-winning femme fatale icon Gloria Grahame (Bening) is a fading star doing modest theatre productions in Liverpool. By. We’re allowed to discern the peace that Grahame derives … Amazon Influencer . For a decade or so, she had quite a run: “In a Lonely Place” with Humphrey Bogart, “Sudden Fear” alongside Joan Crawford, “The Big Heat” opposite Lee Marvin and “Naked Alibi” paired with Sterling Hayden. Annette Bening and Jamie Bell are "superb" in FILM STARS DON'T DIE IN LIVERPOOL, the true story of the romance between silver screen siren Gloria Grahame, "a … So, it’s curious as to why the filmmakers of Film Stars Never Die in Liverpool chose to tell the story of Gloria Grahame, a long-forgotten film and theatre star. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool book. Humanity and compassion … Annette Bening and Jamie Bell in Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool. Also not helping was the tawdry talk that she and spouse No. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool review – Hollywood on the Mersey. Jeanne notes she wishes Gloria had tried harder and performed more Shakespeare (she also gets a dig in that suggests her daughter was in the shadow of fellow blonde Marilyn Monroe). Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool (373) ... Top reviews from other countries Vicuña. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 November 2017. Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool. 31 December 2017 | rockman182 7 | Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017) The bulk of Academy season hopefuls have come and gone but I see one last one with Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. Peter and Gloria have a yearning to play Romeo and Juliet, and there is a Capulet/Montague tribal division: Brit and American, young and not-young, famous and not-famous. At one point, Peter visits Los Angeles and meets her acting teacher mother Jeanne (a fabulous Vanessa Redgrave)  and vindictive older sis Joy (Frances Barber) at Grahame’s cozy beachside bungalow. There is a great spark between Bell and Bening, and I think these are the most relaxed performances I have seen from either of them. is a movie about the last years in the life of actress Gloria Grahame. It was a pre-web age when movie history was more difficult to retrieve, when it was still possible for former film stars to go to British pubs and stay obscure, when the drinkers were not in a position to take out smartphones and tweet about her presence and watch YouTube clips. 315 global ratings . Facebook . The awards season began with talk that this might be the performance that would snare an Oscar for Bening, who has yet to win after four tries and was cruelly passed by for last year’s superior “20th Century Women.” Oddly enough, Bening used Grahame’s iconic bad-girl performances as inspiration for her sultry con lady in 1990’s “The Grifters,” the source of her first Academy Award nod—and a more fitting tribute than her current release. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool review: Annette Bening lights up the screen, but Jamie Bell is a sweet, vulnerable marvel. John Nolan - December 29, 2017. At this point, Film Stars cannot tell us anything more than we already know about the nature of the Hollywood star system, and sidles us with a love story that only its star and subject care about. As the movie opens (and Elton John's "Song For Guy" plays in the background), we are told it's "Liverpool, England, 1981" and we see Gloria applying make-up and getting ready for a theater performance. Movies: Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool; Once a Hollywood star, Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening) is now doing theatre in … It’s not to say that her life isn’t film worthy, but the particular time in Grahame’s life that the filmmakers chose to tell is rather strange. In "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool"we see the last 3 years of her life when she was having an affair with a man 28 years younger One of my favorite behind the scenes in Hollywood is the film "The Bad and the Beautiful" for which Gloria Graham won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress. Ed Potton. Movie Review: ‘Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool’ By Lance Carter December 8, 2017 No Comments. This article was amended on 14 November 2017. Gloria goes off to powder her nose while Peter pays for the drinks, and the landlord asks, with an air of disbelief: “Isn’t that Gloria Grahame …?” And he leaves it there. She reached her pinnacle after claiming a supporting Oscar as a seductive Southern belle in 1952’s “The Bad and the Beautiful.” By the time Technicolor took over the silver screen, however, Grahame earned a rep for being difficult and obsessive about altering her looks. It might sound like a piece of fan fiction, but Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is based on a true-life celebrity encounter that evolved without any discussion of stalking scandals or restraining orders. It is somewhat refreshing to witness a May-December romance from an older female perspective and both leads pour their hearts into their roles. Film review: Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool A love story about an ageing Hollywood star and a young wannabe showcases two actors at their best, says Ed Potton. The only answer that “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” provides is Annette Bening’s marvelously helpless performance as a 50-something Grahame. Film reviews round-up: Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool, Mudbound, Ingrid Goes West, Good Time. Paul McGuigan’s film, however, is interested in just two things: her late-in-life romance with a much younger man, and her sad decline as she finally succumbed to cancer. It is based on the memoir of the same name by Peter Turner, which tells of his relationship with Academy Award-winning American actress Gloria Grahame in 1970s Liverpool and, some years later, … As a result, career lows take precedence over the meager highs on screen, turning the film into a depressive variation of the somewhat similar “My Week With Marilyn.” Turner, whose 1986 memoir about their affair is the basis of this somber saga, is lucky enough to be portrayed with abundant depth by Jamie Bell in his meatiest dramatic role since his debut in “Billy Elliot.”. 12/13/17 By Matt N. Film stars may not die in Liverpool but our hopes that this would be an Oscar contender certainly did.Bring pushed off to the tail-end of December and with zero buzz surrounding Jamie Bell and especially Annette Bening's performances, "Film Stars Don't Die In Liverpool" will, unfortunately, die a slow and painful death at the box office. Customer reviews. But save for the pair attending a revival showing of “Naked Alibi” (where it is implied that Grahame as a barroom chanteuse actually sang Cole Porter’s “Ace in the Hole” instead of being dubbed), we learn little about the star’s early history and instead focus on this odd couple. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool is a 2017 biographical romantic drama film directed by Paul McGuigan and starring Annette Bening and Jamie Bell, with a cast that includes Vanessa Redgrave and Julie Walters. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is out in the UK on 16 November and in the US on 29 December. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool too finds a way to break the fourth wall without canceling out our willing suspension of disbelief. Later, you see Peter in a cinema, wonderingly watching Gloria in her glorious heyday in Naked Alibi from 25 years or so before. “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” is a tawdrier, more tragic, but similarly superficial “My Week with Marilyn,” devoted to the dying days of an actress who always lived in Monroe’s voluptuous shadow. Annette Bening stars as fading silver-screen siren Gloria Grahame and Jamie Bell as the young actor who fell for her. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 1, 2018. She is not so much a Norma Desmond figure, staying big while the movies got small; she is closer to someone her mother (played by Vanessa Redgrave) compares her to: Marilyn Monroe, an actor having to stay tough while life and showbusiness give her the fuzzy end of the lollipop. Share. READ THE FULL REVIEW ON INDIEWIRE. Very interesting. Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool review: Love story ponders the nature of acting By Jake Wilson Updated February 28, 2018 — 3.23pm first published at 1.44pm Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool: Trailer 1 2 minutes 3 seconds Added: Nov 23, 2017 But the screenplay adapted by biopic specialist Matt Greenhalgh (“Control,” “Nowhere Boy”) provides scant evidence about why we should care about Grahame to begin with and how her fate was perhaps emblematic of movie sirens both past and present.