The Great Lillian Hall

A lot of folk who have been around theater collaborate to provide a convincing look at putting on a show, and how difficult it is when your leading lady, "the first lady of the American theater," is in the early stages of dementia. Supposedly it's based on the latter-day career of Marian Seldes, and Jessica Lange is, as others have said, rather magnificent in suggesting a Broadway star's pride, neglect of loved ones, and denial of her medical crisis. The theatrical details are by and large convincing, though that's clearly no Broadway house (the movie appears to have been made largely in Marietta, Georgia), and, much as we'd like it to be true, opening-night audiences these days don't dress in formal wear. Good acting all around, especially from Kathy Bates as Lillian's no-nonsense caretaker and Lily Rabe as her justifiably resentful daughter; Pierce Brosnan is also around, as an aging-roue next-door neighbor who provides acid commentary and sympathy where it's really needed. Michael Cristofer, an award-winning playwright from way back, directs capably, and if the ending feels a bit unrealistic, it's still a compelling, if often hard-to-watch, journey to it.