Illuminata

Susan Sarandon! Her work as Celimene is a comic sight to behold. Whenever she's onscreen (which isn't enough) the material's full comedic potential kicks into overdrive. "Illuminata" the movie, leaves a lot to be desired--namely more Susan Sarandon at her most breathtakingly beautiful. At an age when most women give up any hope of ever being thought of as sexually appealing or sexually viable, to be exact, Susan owns her many charms and certainly knows how to make the most of them. Her seduction of Tuccio (played by John Turturro) is one of the most erotic in recent cinematic history. And, that it contains one of the funniest "gradification sequences" ever captured on celluloid just goes to show that no matter what age she may happen to be, the one and only Susan Sarandon is and always will be one of the sexiest women alive and the definitive "thinking man's sex symbol" as well as a truly gifted actress quite adept at comedy. By the way, what you just read was written by a 22 year old man--when it comes to beauty, both inside and out, age is nothing but a number. A virtue that Ms. Sarandon continues to redefine with each passing year. I know a magnificient talent when I see it. Score: The film gets 6 out of 10/B-, Susan Sarandon gets a 10/A+ as always.

Wonderful characters, glib and meaningful dialogue, a portrait of theater and its denizens so complete you believe the film is a biography.

There are no small actors here because there are no small parts. What might have been a cameo becomes a pivotal role.

It has been said that the film was missing direction. Not at all. What was happening there was style. This guys loves women and shape and color, and what he likes best is wit.

The entire cast....and that is everybody, was wonderful, so good you could smell the sweat. Camera and sets were so good you could hear floor boards creak. Music, well and tastefully done.

Recommendation: see it once for the discovery, twice for the appreciation, three times for the education. You will not be bored.

Just saw this on TV. As a lifelong professional actor, and therefore of "the other world" (the other other world is everybody else, the "private people"), I want to say how it seemed to me to be made for actors only. Full of wondrous insights, dealing with the shallowness of actors, and their ever present self-concern that maybe where real life is concerned, they just don't "get it", but want to. (Hence our "method" approach to the craft.)

For me it has everything that I've never seen before in films that purport to be about the theatre, but in actuality pander to the ignorance of Private People about things of the theatre, and lie. These guys really don't care about that, but would rather stick to the truth. Yes, it's a huge "in" joke. Like the no-no of breaking up on stage, and destroying the fourth wall, not supposed to do that, it upsets the audience.

This exploration of that unreal world will always stand for me to be definitive. If you're one of the outsiders, don't bother, you won't understand. If this sounds elitist, it's not meant to be. Put it down to an actor's insecurity. But enjoy it for its beauty if you wish, don't look for more.

This is one of the few movies I have had to escape by walking out. Others in the movie house did the same before me. This movie was boring, lacked coherence, relied on cheap jokes and gratuitous topless scenes and tasteless sexual innuendo. The whole thing just fell apart. I don't know how Susan Sarandon was talked into appearing in this.

I'm also tired of endless self-centered movies being made about actors doing acting or making plays or movies. The direction might as well have been phoned in. Most of this can be blamed on actor John Turturro who adapted this movie from a play and who co-authored the screenplay and co-produced and directed this disappointment. The only redeeming qualities, as I see it, were the set design and photography.

The reason I joined the IMDB database was to warn others about this waste of time and money. I have enjoyed Turturro's acting in past movies and that is where, in my opinion, his energies are best utilized.

This film shines from the loving direction that Tuturro lavishes upon Brandon Cole's screenplay. The entire cast is delightful, with Katherine Borowitz's loving and tormented Rachel and Christopher Walken's sexually aggressive Bevalaqua truly standing out. It was great to see a film about the theatre done so passionately, after the dull and trite "Shakespeare in Love".

I was mesmerized by the performances. Tuturro, Borowitz and Sewell moved so seamlessly in and out of characters that you often felt that you were in "Illuminata".

This film reminded me with an equally remarkable film, Louis Malle's "Vanya on 42nd Street". I'm going to have fire up the laser disc player on that one tonight.

If you are a fan of the theatre or works on the theatre, then "Illuminata" is certainly going to work its magic on you.