Mommie Dearest (1981)
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:29
Fresh:16
Rotten:13
Average Rating:5.6/10
Runtime: 2 hrs 9 mins
Genre: Dramas
Synopsis: Based on the book by her adopted daughter Christina, MOMMIE DEAREST is the now-legendary tale of Hollywood superstar Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) and the lengths that she went to in order to... Based on the book by her adopted daughter Christina, MOMMIE DEAREST is the now-legendary tale of Hollywood superstar Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) and the lengths that she went to in order to maintain her public image. After several screen successes, Crawford's plan to stay on top in Tinseltown includes adopting two children, Christina and Christopher, whom she plans on spoiling with love and gifts. As her career flags and her lack of success in her relationships with men chip away at her constitution, Crawford's treatment of her children becomes more and more brutal. Though this domestic horror tale is so over-the-top it that it is often celebrated as high camp, Dunaway's performance remains nothing short of astounding. [More]
Starring: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest, Howard Da Silva
Starring: Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest, Howard Da Silva, Rutanya Alda, Mara Hobel
Director: Frank Perry
Director: Frank Perry
Screenwriter: Frank Yablans, Frank Perry, Robert Getchell
Composer: Henry Mancini
Reviews for Mommie Dearest
| Tomatometer | Critic | Review | Category |
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Dunaway creates the benchmark for harridans the world over but never entirely loses sympathy for her subject. It's a constant blast of high melodrama and camp. Full Review |
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Really no dafter, perhaps, than some of Joanie's own Warner Bros melodramas; the trouble is, it thinks it's Art. Full Review |
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Director Frank Perry simply sits back and lets Dunaway rip. He was either supremely untalented or he purposefully intended to sabotage her. Full Review |
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Wire Hangers! Full Review |
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It's rich, stimulating thought in spite of itself. Full Review |
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Director Frank Perry, who collaborated with three others (including producer Frank Yablans) on the script, gives it all a certain crazed conviction. Full Review |
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'No wire hangers -- ever!' That this apparently banal phrase has now achieved something like immortality is a reflection of the unbridled extravagance of Faye Dunaway's performance. Full Review |
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Dunaway does not chew scenery. Dunaway starts neatly at each corner of the set in every scene and swallows it whole, costars and all. Full Review |
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...relies almost entirely on Dunaway's histrionics to propel the story forward - resulting in a movie that's good for a few unintentional laughs but little else. Full Review |
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A peculiar hybrid: a high-camp Hollywood bio flick about child abuse, elevated substantially above its sordid material by Faye Dunaway's obsessively committed interpretation of legndary star Joan Crawford. Full Review |
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Perry and Yablans fuse this formal schizophrenia with the cruelly episodic structure and fetishized period details of Hollywood biopics. Full Review |
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Deliciously entertaining trash. Full Review |
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High camp about child abuse... oy Faye!
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I can't imagine who would want to subject themselves to this movie. Full Review |
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Both sadly terrifying (child abuse to the max) and a cult classic laughfest.
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There is nothing to string the episodes together into a coherent drama, and no insight into Miss Crawford herself. Full Review |
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No review available.
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Mommie Dearest features an intense and bold performance by Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford. Full Review |
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No review available.
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No review available.
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