Hello from Joe Bonelli-- a native Mississippian and actor who performs as Tennessee Williams in a one-man show (not an "impersonator" gig). The one-star review of this "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" by a know-nothing here states that maybe that person doesn't understand or appreciate "over the top southern drama." You got it!! This version of the original Williams script, butchered by Hollywood in 1958-- good film, but NOT "Cat"-- is dead on. Tommy Lee Jones, a Texas native, is, in this version, the best Brick I've ever seen. This part is probably the most difficult male role in the Williams' canon and Tommy Lee pulls it off admirably. I like Jessical Lange very much but do not consider her quite right for this, for Blanche in "Streetcar" (which she also plays in a version that doesn't really work well) or Amanda in "Glass Menagerie" (which she is to play on Broadway in early 2005). Rip Torn and the late, lamented Kim Stanley are excellent in their roles and Williams-- who admired both immensely-- would, I believe, have approved. Now don't get me wrong-- there are some fine aspects to the Hollywood film and good performances all around (especially from the brilliant Burl Ives, recreating his Broadway original, and Madeline Sherwood as Sister Woman (Mae)-- ditto!) But the constraints of the Hollywood Production Code really hurt what could have been a true classic. By the way, Williams appreciated the performances of both Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman in the Hollywood bowdlerized version-- as do I. It would have been wonderful to see how these great stars/actors would have handled the original script. I suggest that the writer who doesn't "understand or appreciate over-the-top southern drama" stick to prettily-cast sanitized Hollywood adaptations of great plays and true-to-the-original films of them-- and pass on handing out uninformed opinions about the real thing. You don't have to like a play or a performance-- but you DO need to know something about it before you dismiss fine writing and acting.
