Post by BunnyWhit on Nov 13, 2022 22:51:16 GMT
I finally watched it. Via HBOMax, I've finished viewing all six episodes of The Last Movie Stars (2022).
Created and directed by Ethan Hawke, The Last Movie Stars chronicles the lives and careers of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. The series gives brief backgrounds of both stars' formative years, then really lays the groundwork for the story upon their early careers when they met, both as the proverbial struggling actors. Both Newman's and Woodward's individual careers are chronicled, and a third, shared, career -- that of their acting work together, his directing, and her artistic direction -- is also explored.
The Newman/Woodward personal relationship is also laid bare. The series is candid about Newman's alcoholism and Woodward's frustrations with motherhood. The relationship that has long been touted as a Hollywood fairytale marriage of fifty years is exposed as one that is not absent of its own serious difficulties, missteps, and near collapses.
It's brilliant.
One of the questions I heard or read several times was -- why? Why would the Newman daughters ask Hawke to make this film? Why would they allow their parents lives and careers to be looked at in a way that shatters the fairytale image? I am glad that my suspicion about the answers to these questions was correct. The Newman daughters wanted their parents' real, complete stories told as a means to bring them down off the pedestals upon which fans and Hollywood lore had placed them, and give them back their humanity. In so doing, the Great American Love Story, as the Newman/Woodward relationship is often called, becomes even more profound. It is not the absence of hardship that makes their relationship so impressive; rather it is their survival, resilience, and growth as a couple in spite of hardship that makes their relationship inspiring. As Nell Newman explains late in the series, the daughters felt the whole story must be told, as their parents deserved much more credit than a fairytale could provide.
Some reviewers mention that the pace tends to drag a little bit in the fourth and fifth episodes, and I agree, but I do not see this as a fault of the series. Rather, I think of it as that place in the natural flow of life where work, relationships, and understanding of self have finally reached their most comfortable positions. Still waters run deep.
Recommend.
Created and directed by Ethan Hawke, The Last Movie Stars chronicles the lives and careers of Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward. The series gives brief backgrounds of both stars' formative years, then really lays the groundwork for the story upon their early careers when they met, both as the proverbial struggling actors. Both Newman's and Woodward's individual careers are chronicled, and a third, shared, career -- that of their acting work together, his directing, and her artistic direction -- is also explored.
The Newman/Woodward personal relationship is also laid bare. The series is candid about Newman's alcoholism and Woodward's frustrations with motherhood. The relationship that has long been touted as a Hollywood fairytale marriage of fifty years is exposed as one that is not absent of its own serious difficulties, missteps, and near collapses.
It's brilliant.
One of the questions I heard or read several times was -- why? Why would the Newman daughters ask Hawke to make this film? Why would they allow their parents lives and careers to be looked at in a way that shatters the fairytale image? I am glad that my suspicion about the answers to these questions was correct. The Newman daughters wanted their parents' real, complete stories told as a means to bring them down off the pedestals upon which fans and Hollywood lore had placed them, and give them back their humanity. In so doing, the Great American Love Story, as the Newman/Woodward relationship is often called, becomes even more profound. It is not the absence of hardship that makes their relationship so impressive; rather it is their survival, resilience, and growth as a couple in spite of hardship that makes their relationship inspiring. As Nell Newman explains late in the series, the daughters felt the whole story must be told, as their parents deserved much more credit than a fairytale could provide.
Some reviewers mention that the pace tends to drag a little bit in the fourth and fifth episodes, and I agree, but I do not see this as a fault of the series. Rather, I think of it as that place in the natural flow of life where work, relationships, and understanding of self have finally reached their most comfortable positions. Still waters run deep.
Recommend.