Lively, entertaining reviews of, and essays on, old and newer films and everything relating to them, written by professional author William Schoell.

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

MY BRILLIANT CAREER


MY BRILLIANT CAREER (1979). Director: Gillian Armstrong.

Judy Davis is Sybylla, a young woman from the Outback who is sent by her poor parents to live with her wealthier relatives where she meets a handsome neighbor, Harry Beecham (Sam Neill), but is determined to preserve her feisty independence. This is a well-made, well-acted, and entertaining picture, but while it was trumpeted as some kind of feminist manifesto and is based on a true story, it comes off more like a typical "Bette Davis" movie. [Remember, Davis and other actresses of the golden age often played feisty and independent women.] Having the guy who is tall, dark and handsome improbably fall for the "homely" Sybylla taps into the same wish-fulfillment fantasy of many another movie starring Davis and others and is pure "Hollywood" (even if this was made in Australia). The scene when Sybylla snubs Harry at a ritzy party and then dashes out to the barn to dance with the poor ranch employees, snatching one guy away from his girlfriend, is pure [Bette] Davis. Yet fans of the film seemed to see it as something new and original. Still, Judy Davis gives a solid performance and Neill is quite good as well and the film does present an interesting lead character.

Verdict: Not so original but otherwise not bad at all. ***

No comments: