I was so looking forward to this, but it really let me down. Neither actor really came across as Liz/Richard, altho West did sometimes get the voice right. Helena sucked - and her big BROWN eyes were particularly distracting.
shareThis movie reminded me of a car stuck in the mud. The grinding of the buried wheels was the only thing I heard. Grunt. Grunt. Grunt.
shareOh dear. I thought it was very good. Maybe because I had no particular expectations. The two leads were excellent, IMO. Helena perfectly and subtly conveyed Elizabeth's cloying voice and strange mannerisms. And there was this sad, smouldering passion between the two old warriors.
I wonder though if Martin Scorcese will carry on with his Burton/Taylor project. He's too A-list to do a subject covered previously by two made-for-TV movies.
Scorsese dreams a lot. He has work lined up for the next 100 years. I doubt if he will ever get to this one.
I am a Helena Bonham-Carter fan. I could tell who she was trying to be altho she didn't seem to go too far with it. I was disappointed in all of it. I've gotten used to it. The guy who played Burton I had never seen before, and if I had not had known that he was actually portraying Richard Burton I would have not been able to figure out whether or not he was acting. I didn't see Burton in him at all. Come to think of it.. Burton had no persona.. it's like he wasn't there or something
Interesting observation about Burton. When I saw the Dick Cavett interviews with Burton, done in 1980, I thought there was a frightening blankness to Burton. Though he was outwardly charming and funny, his eyes were empty. I blame the booze - it's a soul-killer.
shareI feel the same way. I set my DVR to tape it & settled in to watch it last night. I thought it seemed like it was tossed together very quickly...like it was "let's just get something on film to show." For the most part, it bored me. I can think of other periods in their lives together that would have been much more interesting.
I actually fell asleep about halfway thru, but woke up, reversed it & struggled to stay awake to watch to the end. I wish I hadn't, the sleep would have done me more good & been much more satisfying.
"Sing until your throat hurts, dance until your legs hurt, act until you're William Hurt."
I think it was not as good as people expected it to be.
Its that man again!!