Being Mary Tyler Moore

I grew up watching "The Dick Van Dyke Show", so I was exposed to the talents of Mary Tyler Moore at a young age. At the time, I perceived that she was lovable, funny, and somewhat innocent. After watching this documentary, I think those descriptors are accurate.

This biopic provides insights into MTM's point of view throughout her career. It also tries to define her place in (mostly) TV history, as society was redefining itself in the 1960s. To that end, the documentary includes numerous quotes from notable feminists of that era, primarily to skewer her Laura Petrie role as a bad influence. This raises a couple of questions.

First, was the "Dick Van Dyke Show"---and its characters----a reflection of the changing times or a cause of change? Probably both, but primarily the former.

Secondly, if the Laura Petrie role is iconic, is it due to MTM or the producers, directors and writers of the show who defined the role and gave it life through the scripts? I can admire MTM as a person and actor without trying to make her a social icon. As we learn from the documentary, the public really knew little about MTM, the woman, at the time.

The film does illustrate how dramatically MTM evolved and became more self-actualized as she dealt with career challenges, personal tragedies, and relationship issues. It is easy to feel sympathy for her, because she always maintained a sense of humor and she always tried to improve, professionally and personally.

This might not be a very objective overview of her life, but it is enjoyable.

A fine bio/doc of, in my opinion, the best sit com actress of the twentieth century, and a damn fine dramatic actor as well. I especially admired how director James Adolphus avoided the Talking Head Trap by having voices over clips rather than cutting away from clips to shots of talking heads talking, as most docs do. Bravo. Also, I found the voices generally well chosen, mostly interested in imparting info and perceptions about Ms. Moore rather than pushing themselves. Again, I would credit the fact that the speakers were not shown on camera for this felicitousness.

As for the tone of this documentary, it's fairly doleful, wouldn't you say? Certainly, Ms. Moore's life had its share of sadnesses, what with a cold fish dad, possibly suicidal sister and son, and alcoholic brother. But there is a core of melancholy present in all her interviews, even at their most comic. Maybe all professional funny folks are subject to this trait, but it sure is present in this gal.

My only criticism is that there is too much time spent on act three (Moore's long decline after she moved to upstate NY) and not enough on act one (her early life with her parents, and first marriage). Act two, however, cannot be improved on, especially the treatment of The Mary Tyler Moore Show's influence on American popular culture in the 70s and even more especially that culture's changing views on women and the workplace. Let's just say that this doc effectively eviscerates Gloria Steinem's monumentally dumb remark that TMTMS was "anti woman". Give it an A minus.

PS...Forgot what a pompous bore David Susskind was.

I was one of those kids who never missed a Mary Tyler Moore show on Saturday nights. Beautiful, kind, humble, understanding, and willing to stand up for her values; watching the character Mary Richard's played by MTM was like watching life lessons on how to grow up and be a good person. And those were tough years. Society was in turmoil: Vietnam, Watergate, Civil rights, etc. Yet even as a kid I knew that show was gently, through humor, helping us deal with complexity.

That same dualism was part of who MTM was as a human being, as the documentary points out, particularly in a condescending Suskind interview that she handles beautifully. But it misses a great deal too. Her shows were not just funny, they were important milestones culturally. They were part of an era; they helped define that era. The 70s show became a huge hit, won tons of Tonys, and spun off so many shows it seemed at the time like MTM Enterprises had replaced MGM - they even spoofed the studio with a tiny cat instead of a Lion. Her impact was huge. But you don't really get a feel for that impact from this doc.

For instance, instead of spending way too much time on her last husband, which gets creepy and weird (like someone is trying really hard to prove something - he's a producer), more important to her legacy would have been more depth about her company, how those shows spun off, and her relationship with husband Grant Tinker, which is glossed over. (Jealousy?) Tinker was a huge TV influence, first through his wife then on his own. He deserved more in the doc.

Oddly enough, so did MTM. We endure overly long clips from the same interviewers, and too many voiceovers from celebrity fans. Better would have been in-depth clips from her career, especially her films, more analysis of her impact on television from the experts (not just friends), more background from Van Dyke, and more context about other iconic shows at that time: All In The Family, Rhoda, Maud, Sanford and Son, and the Jeffersons. And it would have been perfect to end, not with the last husband ad nauseum (2 appearances are sufficient, not dozens), but with that wonderful reunion of MTM, Betty, and Valerie on 'Hot in Cleveland,' her last scripted performance. It was a beautiful TV moment, like all of her work. The doc director treated his subject far too superficially.

I loved the actress Mary Tyler Moore. I have watched the Dick Van Dyke Shoe, The Mary Tyler Moore Show and the film Ordinary People. On screen she was a wonderful actress and performer.

I only have to say that that the documentary did not get deep enough into Ms Tyler Moore's private life.

I loved everything I saw but I wished there was more. I just didn't learn enough about her that I didn't already know.

I saw that Ms Moore's sister and son died young but I wanted to learn more about Ms Moore's background.

She had a happy marriage. But she was a political conservative.

I just wanted to learn about her last years. She was let go by Neil Simon while preparing for a role on Broadway.it would have been interesting to understand what occurred as she was suffering Ming from diabetes.

It was more than just her smile that did it for me, and I was probably about 7 years old at the time. This special includes a clip from "The Dick Van Dyke Show" 1st season episode, "Washington vs. The Bunny". The "costume" Mary Tyler Moore's character, Laura Petrie, wears during Rob Petrie's dream sequence is simply ever so lovely. Most certainly an inspiration for the "dream sequences" of young boys across the ages.

This is a wonderful glance at the life and amazing career of an incredibly talented and obviously very special woman - Daughter, Wife, Mother, Actress, Producer and Friend. So many lives this woman touched or perhaps, truly graced. This special also makes it quite clear that Mary Tyler Moore was very much simply, a human being.

Included are countless clips from TV shows, films and plays she starred in. A surprise, and something I had never seen before, is a clip from a camera rehearsal of the pilot episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". My goodness, this woman had spunk!

An incredibly wonderful inclusion is that of home videos. No, they are not exactly "TV-Ready" clips. They're unprofessional, fuzzy and don't have the best sound quality. And they are amazing to watch. That these personal moments are being shared with her adoring fans here in this presentation... Well, all I can really say is, Thank You.

10 Stars, A+, 100/100. I would hope to see biographies like this of other Major Stars like this from these same Producers, etc.