SOPHIES CHOICE (1982)

The first thing my husband David said when he watched about 12 seconds of this film was "This woman is a chameleon! She can do anything!" I said "I know, she even laughs with an accent!" This movie won Streep an academy award for Best Actress. Undeniably because she transforms her self into a scared polish woman who has so much baggage from her "choice" she made during the holocaust, which later we learn is her decision to choose between which of her children would live under force of a Nazi. She delivers a vulnerable performance that leaves no room for improvement. Of course Kevin Kliene her costar and brilliant actor himself portrays a schizophrenic and together they form this sad love story. This is a movie I won't see again for a while simply because of it's weight. It's heaviness. I loved it. I was mesmerized the whole time, but it was a downer and is one to be appreciated. studied. remembered, more than watched over and over. lovely lovely film.

THE FRENCH LIEUTENANTS WOMAN

A story within a story. It took a moment to understand but soon we realize that Streep is actually playing an actress. We become attached to her fake story which seems real. and her real story which is still fake if you think about it. She's an adulterer in one and a....crazy woman in the other. She has some beautiful moments in the end of her "screen" character that her character is playing in the movie. She giggles slightly at the end when her ex lover she seduced into ruining his reputation by sleeping with her while engaged to another woman comes to visit, or rather finds her after she disappears with his reputation is shatters. She giggles in this take they used and it's said that she didn't giggle in any other take because it's a serious moment, but for this one take she did because she bumps her head and she was inspired as her character to find this funny. The point is, even when she's breaking she's not breaking (character). Over all I don't think I watch this movie again honestly. Of course I can always find something worthwhile about Streeps performance that will entertain me, but the over all movie was slightly slow and rather over done. The whole story with in a story thing has been done 23048 times. So I applaud the effort but you can tell this is an early career choice.

Kramer Vs. Kramer

This is one of my favorites and I yes I've seen this one before but watching it again, it just doesn't get old. The acting is phenomenal and of course Streep completely deserved her Best Supporting Actress Oscar win. This film came out in 1979 and probably was the real catapult for Streeps career. Streep even wrote her ending speech she gives in court about why she deserves to keep her son. Coming from her own life as a working mother and dealing with those stresses she was able to find some decent inspiration for the speech. If you haven't seen this movie it's heart breaking but heart warming all at the same time. Even though this blog is obviously geared toward Meryl Streep, I have to mention the stellar performance dustin Hoffman gave as her husband she abandons. Speaking in terms of story line, you should be rooting for Dustin H. the whole time. The little boy they found to play their son wasn't too shabby either. It was a good depicting of struggling parents, divorce, and all the emotions attached.

Manhattan

This is one of Wood Allen's creations made in the 1979. Streep stated that she had not seen a complete script and was given only the six pages of her own scenes, and that she had not been permitted to improvise a word of her dialogue. As an actress myself, I get how frustrating that can be. However, to be fair technically that's what the script is for. to be interpreted by an actor for the writer and director. We are the tools. But it is fun to have the liberty to deliver a line freely as it comes to you rather than word for word no mistakes about it. This film was shot all in black and white, and also stars Dian Keaton looking very young. Meryl Honestly isn't the film more then ten minutes if that. She plays a bitter ex of Woody Allen who writes a book about there failed marriage. She also happens to be a lesbian. I thought she played the role perfectly because even though it was an evil thing to be doing to your ex, you manage to find an odd soft spot for her in the six pages she had on screen, and almost find an element of comedy. In a Woody kind of way. Honestly it took me three times to watch this movie and get through it. I started watching this movie years ago but fell asleep. I tried again recently, fell asleep. tried again, made it, and then couldn't understand why I kept falling asleep. My guess is the language or the way the script is written makes the actors talk in a very natural toned down and almost soothing way. Half the time you can't even hear them. They were very.....soft spoken. A lot of trailing off and getting quite at the end of sentences. It was weird. and sleepy. But overall I actually enjoyed the story and thought it was a cool concept for a film. But make sure to bring an espresso to stay awake!

Jaclyn Lassetter

p.s. Next is.....Kramer vs. Kramer! very excited, I've seen this movie but I love it!
p.p.s. speaking of Meryl Streep, GO SEE "It's Complicated!" in theaters Christmas! I saw a sneak preview in the theater with my cousin and we laughed our heads off. We loved it!

Holocaust

This miniseries was intense. I'm not gonna lie I was not looking forward to this one but then it ended up being quite captivating. Disturbing, awful, and heartbreaking of course, but captivating. This Mini was broken up into 5 parts all around 2 hours. It was long! which is partially why this has taken so long too. Meryl won a prime time Emmy for outstanding lead actress in a mini series. Having aired in 1978, Deer Hunter actually didn't come out in theaters until after this program. Of course after mourning the death of her fiance she performed in The Seduction of Joe Tynan (1979) with Alan Alda, later commenting that she played it on "automatic pilot". Understandably of course. I couldn't get a hold of this film anywhere. So it'll have to wait for now. Manhattan is the next film and wouldn't you know it, I already watched it. Because Holocaust took 3 different DVD's to watch it and Netfilx sends only one at a time, I watched Manhattan in between. I'll talk about that after. Holocaust really started to show off Meryl's acting shops a bit more I think. There's a scene where she's running after the car that's taking her husband away to be tortured and she's crying and screaming because she has already gone through so much just to see him again for the first time in years! She plays an Arian girl married to a Jewish man (James Woods) so you can see how the conflict might ensue. This movie really made me think. I'm dumbfounded by the logic the Germans used to justify there actions. absolute madness. Meryl was quoted saying this project was "unrelentingly noble", and had taken the role only because she had needed money. Do I recommend this...I say watch it once. soak it in. and then never look back. Learn from it, don't dwell on it.

Jaclyn Lassetter

Deer Hunter......

Ok, this movie took completely off guard! I was expecting a movie about some deer hunters. Boy was I wrong! I'll be honest. The first 45 minutes of the movie were slow and I was starting to get a little annoyed even but then the second half where the buddies are in Vietnam..... whoa It was none stop intense until the finish. I started watching the movie laying down in my bed and then by the end of it, I was on the edge of my bed closest to the TV screen with my hands clutching my face. The Russian Roulette scenes killed me! I totally see how this won best picture. I can't even begin to describe the terror I felt at times and honest yearning to hug some of these characters. Christopher Walken did a stand out performance and earned a well deserved academy award for best supporting actor. Robert De Niro did equally as stellar and it's fun to see him so young! He's actually quite handsome. And finally our leading lady Meryl Streep. It's hard to ever criticize her so...I wont. She looked young, beautiful, and played her role well. I was mostly focused on how she could handle shooting all day when her Fiance was suffering so much during this time. For those that don't know, this was John Cazale's last film. The Director shot all of his scenes first and he unfortunately passed away before Deer Hunter was finished. Meryl was very devoted and loving all through his sickness. He had terminal bone cancer. She even stated once that the role wasn't even all that interesting to her, they just needed a girl to between the two guys and she was it. Mostly I'm sure she liked that she could be on set with him.
So to rap it up I say this is a classic. A ruff one to watch tough, I don't imagine I will watch it again for a long time. Brovo to an excellent cast, directing, and writing.

Jaclyn Lassetter

p.s. Next up: Holocaust (a miniseries)

The watching of Julia finally!

well I finally saw Julia! It took forever because there was a hick-up with Netflix for a while and no rental place had it. But here are my thoughts. I give it a....7 out of ten. It was a story about friendship during WWII and to be honest I couldn't quite grasp the idea behind what I was supposed to take from the movie. My mother who watched it with me said she thought it was just a depiction of how awful times were during WWII with the added fact of how far true friends will go for each other. Jane Fonda was the main character in this and she did a wonderful job. I understand that Oscar nod for sure. Meryl's role was ever so tiny which was weird because she generally is a principal role in her films. She looks so young and beautiful playing a high society snoody type character that even though not on screen more then twice, has a pivotal role to the plot. She represents the reason for Jane Fonda and her best friend hating the arrogant ignorance of the upper-class. She sported an accent as well that threw me off at first. I think for her first film she held her own very well but I have to admit, there was a difference in her experience and perhaps confidence with herself in this film vs some of her later ones. Next up is Deer Hunter. My In-laws own it so I'm gonna borrow it from them. Then it's a television Mini-series called Holocaust which I'm really excited for because this supposedly got her on the map. Well my husband is snoring and I should really try to sleep after I plug his nose to get him to stop snoring and then pretend I'm asleep. Wish me luck.

Jaclyn Lassetter