Film

Movie theaters, reviews and showtimes in New York, plus articles, trailers and more

 

Rich and Famous (1981)

Director: George Cukor

Average user rating
No reviews

Movie review

From Time Out Film Guide

Considering neither Bisset nor Bergen had ever shown the slightest acting ability before in movies, their performances in the Bette Davis/Miriam Hopkins roles in this loose reworking of Old Acquaintance are very capable. They play two college friends in a story spanning the years 1959-81. Liz (Bisset) develops into a formidable, prickly New York literary figure (Calvin Klein wardrobe, Algonquin, Greenwich Village), while southern belle Merry Noel (a surprisingly comic Bergen) turns from Malibu housewife into wealthy trash novelist (Chanel, gold-chain handbags, Waldorf Astoria, Beverly Hills). Of course much of the credit must go to Cukor, the veteran 'woman's director'; but the film disappoints in its unconfident handling of the secondary characters: the Rolling Stone journalist who lays Liz, Merry's daughter, and the daughter's unsuitable Puerto Rican boyfriend. So many young people in a very old man's film (his last, in fact).

Author: JS 0000-00-00 00:00:00

Time Out Film Guide


  • Print this page
  • Send to a friend

What do you think?
Post your review now

clear rating
Min 1 star. Zero stars will be treated as unrated.

*mandatory fields





Features

Making a name for himself

Making a name for himself

Sin Nombre's Cary Joji Fukunaga learned his lessons well.

To the letter

Forty years later, Costa-Gavras's Z still brims with fury.

Mind over matter

David Cronenberg reflects on a most bizarre body: his own corpus of work.

Fool's gold

Can an Oscar win lead to a cursed career? Here are five stories of postaward professional meltdowns.

We are the championed

Terrorists and teens abound in this year's "Film Comment Selects."

A history of violence

Matteo Garrone's kaleidoscopic Gomorrah wallops you with Italy's crime crisis.

True romantic

James Gray exchanges urban amorality for amour in Two Lovers.

Playing in the dark

MoMA salutes pianist Stuart Oderman's 50 years as the one-man sound of silents.

Junk bonds

Cast and crew recall the making of the classic NYC drug drama The Panic in Needle Park.