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Faye Dunaway is flawless as Joan! Her performance alone is reason enough to watch the movie. And the child portraying Christina is amazing as well, a real scene stealer. The abuse scenes will break your heart! The sets are impressive, clothing is appropriate, and the actors give the feel that you are really seeing Joan living her life. The film does give some idea of what life was like for a Hollywood starlet of the time. It must have been truly difficult for Joan to realize that as she aged not only did the available roles decrease but that there were countless beautiful women poised to take her place in a heartbeat!
What the film does not make clear is that Joan's films started losing money and her label of "box office poison" had already been applied before Christina was adapted. Joan was already 35 years old (maybe, her exact birth date is unclear) and was fighting the good fight against age. As many have speculated I believe that her adaption of Christina was a ploy hatched by Joan to draw attention away from her age and for extra publicity. Unfortunately It doesn't appear that Joan was prepared for the truth of motherhood- that once one becomes a mother your life focus changes as the child becomes more important than yourself. Thus your life revolves around your child rather than yourself. It doesn't look like Joan ever did adapt that attitude. Please note that Christina's original name was Joan, jr which wasn't changed until Christina was about a year and a half when the adaption became final. I believe that all Joan's abuse and behaviors have a root in Joan's idea that she was most important and her children were only extensions, there for her purposes and not really important as people (like some people view circus animals). Many people argue that Joan was a narcissist and narcissists do also view the people around them in a similar fashion, not necessarily as people but as useful things to manipulate to their own ends, so there is that opinion also.
It appeared that Joan had a real problem with Christina acting like a real child. I don't see Christina's behavior as abnormal in any way. Doesn't every little girl dress up like their mother and mimic her? Yet Joan punished Christina, almost as if she were actually jealous of Christina. And I think maybe she was. There is nothing like having a child in your life to remind you of the passing of time and that you yourself are aging as well. And how difficult it must have been to live with Christina as she become more beautiful by the day! That may have been the reason for her "competing" with Christina in the pool, then telling her that she would always win, to make herself feel better, by demonstrating typical "bully" behavior.
It appears that Christina really lucked out when Joan sent her away to boarding school and away from her abuse (and out of Joan's sight). Yet Joan managed to heap more abuse on her by forcing Christina to work her way through school. I'm sure this brought abuse from others who saw this as a weakness. Stll, I think that Christina was better off.
For those who doubt Christina's story you need only look at the facts. Back in the day Hollywood controlled every aspect of a stars life. They changed their name, made up a fake history if need be and even told the stars who to date and who to be seen with in public. It was all part of the great propaganda machine of Hollywood to make a star glamorous and desirable in order to keep the public interested. Abuse of any kind would have been hushed up as were the real lives of gay stars (though the truth did come out later). And there are many famous people who have admitted on camera (see Utube, stars talking about Christina Crawford) to knowledge of the abuse in the Crawford home.
It's too bad that Joan apparently never actually learned to appreciate her children for the love and support they could bring her. I can't imagine living your whole life without ever really allowing such love into your life. She was once Hollywood royalty but she died one of the saddest deaths that I have ever seen!
Overall this movie is worth watching but it doesn't have a really great plot or a lot of great actors despite Faye Dunaway's amazing performance. It is maybe a 3.5 to 4 stars film. So why 5 stars? Because this film has had a major culture changing influence. This film along with the movie has single handedly changed how people view and treat child abuse. Because of this movie many laws have been passed to protect children from abuse. And because child abuse has been brought out into the open people are more likely to see it and report it. Thus this film is important and gets 5 stars! So it looks like overall Christina has made lemonade from her lemons. So cudos to you, Christina!
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| Additional DVD options | Edition | Discs | Price | New from | Used from |
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April 25, 2017 "Please retry" | Special Edition | 1 | $8.65 | $3.94 |
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June 6, 2006 "Please retry" | Standard Edition | 1 | $7.01 | $3.18 |
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Reviews with images
Paramount Presents Line is amazing
Amazing movie for your collection. Restoration is very good and sounds great. If you're a fan of this movie you won't regret it!
