Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

With such a great cast (Annette Bening, Jamie Bell, Julie Walters, Kenneth Cranham, Stephen Graham, Vanessa Redgrave and Frances Barber) and a fascinating subject matter detailing a passionate true-life romance concerning film noir icon Gloria Grahame and jobbing actor Peter Turner, 'Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool' intrigued me.

On the most part, while not perfect, 'Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool' did not disappoint and did its subject justice. There wasn't much to criticise for me actually, though the quality of the production values left me torn. On one hand, there's lovely costumes and very handsome photography. On the other, some of the sets are garish and lack authenticity and some of the wigs are a fright. Especially Stephen Graham's that looked like it came from an old comedy sketch on loan.

'Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool' however is anchored by Bening at her most fearless and vulnerable and her passionate chemistry with Bell giving the most mature work of his career.

Walters, Cranham and Graham are as expected first class support, particularly Walters. Redgrave and Barber have a terrific scene. Paul McGuigan directs with class.

The elegiac music score adds enormously. The nostalgic atmosphere is evoked beautifully, and the story, while slight, was easy to get behind thanks to the performances, the romance having the passion it does and the emotional resonance of when Grahame's career and health ails. Can't fault the script either, which is full of wit and poignancy.

In short, very intriguing and well done. 8/10 Bethany Cox

A middle-aged American actress (Annette Benning) turns to her young ex-lover (Jamie Bell) and his family in Liverpool when her health problems take a turn for the worse. Oh and by the way, the actress is screen legend Gloria Grahame, and the film is based on the real-life memoir of her lover, Peter Turner.

Told in flashbacks and memories, director Paul McGuigan keeps the pace of the film up, which helps offset the depressing aspects of the story, which of course involves the inevitable decay to the body, even with those immortalized as such bright stars in the universe of movies. The scene of an argument the pair have, shown first from his perspective and then later from hers, is excellent. It reminds us to consider that there may be all sorts of things in another person's thoughts that may explain their actions which we don't understand. The scene where the pair go on the stage of an old empty theater to recite from 'Romeo and Juliet' is very touching. It reminds us that the romance and feelings of one's heart don't disappear, even if the skin wrinkles and looks fade.

Benning received accolades for her performance and is certainly solid, displaying a lot of range and honesty, but I'm not sure if she quite captures Gloria Grahame. Bell is fine too, particularly in scenes with his family, where we see the moral force of his parents (Julie Walters and Kenneth Cranham), as well as his wonderfully combative brother (Stephen Graham). The film is not meant as a complete biography by any means, focusing on these last few years of her life and her relationship with this young actor, but at the same time, it would have been nice to see more clips from her films, even if they had been just interspersed with the credits rolling. All in all though, it's a touching film whether you know Gloria Grahame or not.

The bulk of Academy season hopefuls have come and gone but I see one last one with Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool. I was immediately interested in what the film was offering. A relationship portrayed by Annete Bening and Jamie Bell? Very interesting. If anything I could see a possible Oscar nomination for Bening. After watching I did enjoy the film for what it was. Its well acted and fairly emotional.

The film is based on the real life memoir by Peter Turner (of the same name as the film), where he recollects the relationship he had with the famous Hollywood actress, Gloria Grahame. He encounters Grahame in the later stages of her life, when she is working at Liverpool in stage plays. Grahame and Turner begin a relationship which is marred by Grahame's spreading breast cancer, which she eventually succumbs to. From what I've read after the film, the events of the film seem to cover the incidents of real life pretty accurately.

Annette Bening kind of disappears into the role of Gloria Grahame. Its a really good performance from her. Same with Jamie Bell. The film is really carried by these two and their wonderful relationship. The film does have periods that drag and could have been portrayed in a more straightforward fashion, but the film never really loses its charm which is actually a strong selling point.

I loved Elvis Costello's "You Shouldn't Look at Me That Way", made specially for this film. Its a gorgeous theme and the parts that were included in romantic moments between Gloria and Peter made their relationship seem magical. Overall I don't the film is excellent, though the performances and romance and the film make it worth a watch. You can't help put feel sad for Gloria and Peter by the end of the film.

7/10

Annette Bening and Jamie Bell play star-crossed lovers, with the emphasis on 'star'. Ms Bening is, as ever, excellent, this time playing a real-life Hollywood actress, Gloria Grahame, herself a remarkable and original talent. If this film rekindles interest in Ms Grahame's formidable back catalogue of performances, that's no bad thing.

However, FILM STARS...centres on Peter Turner, a jobbing actor whose life takes an unexpected turn when he falls in love with Ms Grahame. As Turner, Jamie Bell, who has developed into an accomplished supporting actor over the years since BILLY ELLIOT, is promoted to leading man. He's excellent. A revelation. Authoritative, sexy, strong, romantic, vulnerable -- you name it, Mr Bell communicates it sincerely, without any sense of artifice. A first-rate performance.

It's a pity that the film is so hand-me-down in other ways. The everlastingly wonderful Julie Walters does everything possible with the stereotypical Liverpool mum that she's been provided with, but neither she nor other stalwarts -- Kenneth Cranham, Stephen Graham, Frances Barber and even Vanessa Redgrave -- can transcend their characters' functionality. Production values are all over the place (the wigs!), while the decision to use back projection for the scenes in New York and California seems to me to demonstrate the inconsistency at the heart of the director's approach. Rather than expressing the rosy glow of memory, which I suspect was the justification, these scenes merely look cheap. It might have been wiser to set the whole thing in a studio, as Joe Wright did with his ANNA KARENINA or Baz Lurhmann with his MOULIN ROUGE. Whatever the flaws of those two movies, the overall artistic vision was equal to the project in hand. I don't think that's the case here, unfortunately.

Enjoyed this love story revolving around a young actor named Peter Turner and aging Hollywood movie star Gloria Grahame. They meet at a boarding house in England and begin a May-Dec romance despite their age differences. After years apart when the actress develops cancer Turner cares for while she stays at his families home in Liverpool.

Annette Benning is mesmerizing in her portrayal of former Hollywood royalty and to me the love story really kicks in after Gloria gets sick, Jamie Bell is so tender and heartbroken. That Romeo and Juliet scene. Good and clever way of using flashbacks, character will walk out of a memory or into memory through a door. Neat. This did drag a bit in parts but gave me all the feels at the end and is worth watching for fantastic performances from Benning and Bell.