Feud: Pilot (Episode 1) Review
FRIENDLY HEADS UP: THIS POST MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS
American Horror Story's Ryan Murphy's new drama aired Sunday night in the US (Monday 6th of March, AEST for us Aussies), It's the beginning of a new anthology series about famous feuds. This season Bette Davis/Joan Crawford and I've heard it rumored that season 2 will be centered around Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
(image source: http://imageslogotv-a.akamaihd.net//uri/mgid:file:http:shared:newnownext.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/joan-1486572805.gif)
Plot Summary:
Jessica Lange plays Joan Crawford who is finding herself in financial difficulty due to the lack of work available for women of her age in Hollywood. Desperate to reclaim former glory, Crawford pitches a movie idea to a director saying she has already got a co-star in mind, who of course turns out to be her arch rival Bette Davis.
Despite both actresses former success, studios are only interested in youth and sex appeal, therefore the project got passed on by many studios before director, Robert Aldrich (Alfred Molina), convinced Jack Warner (Stanley Tucci) to produce the film despite the production company's previous issues with Bette Davis.
Final Thoughts:
Great casting. And wow, what a cast! I wasn't expecting that. From opening with Catherine Zeta Jones as Olivia de Havilland, Stanley Tucci as Jack Warner to Judy Davis (who seems to enjoy these sorts of stories, having played Judy Garland years ago) and Kate Bates. I'm not forgetting, of course, Alfred Molina, who I know has been in many well acted parts but for some reason is permanently embedded in my mind as either Doc Ock (Spider-Man 2) or the shady priest in Da Vinci Code.
You would usually expect me to complain when an actor seems to choose the same character roles so frequently as Lange seems to have done over the past couple of years. Her AHS characters always seemed to follow similar character stories and development: the aging star or matriarch afraid of (or actually) becoming a shadow of her former self, meanwhile bulldozing everyone in her way to stay on top. However, Lange portrays these characters so well I'm not complaining. After her absence from AHS the last few seasons it's a pleasure seeing her again.
While I'm not sure about how I feel about the physical resemblance between Crawford and Lange, Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis (esp in her Baby Jane get up) is down right creepy in it's accuracy.
(image source: https://68.media.tumblr.com/bcc0c38143044e3cebe2cfdb9786b3ee/tumblr_okz3wcI4ix1ui45hlo2_r1_500.gif)
The pilot episode of FX's Feud was well-written and intriguing. I'm looking forward to seeing how the show progresses. I'll be definitely starting my weeks off with The Walking Dead and FX's Feud from now on ;)
American Horror Story's Ryan Murphy's new drama aired Sunday night in the US (Monday 6th of March, AEST for us Aussies), It's the beginning of a new anthology series about famous feuds. This season Bette Davis/Joan Crawford and I've heard it rumored that season 2 will be centered around Prince Charles and Princess Diana.
(image source: http://imageslogotv-a.akamaihd.net//uri/mgid:file:http:shared:newnownext.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/joan-1486572805.gif)
Plot Summary:
Jessica Lange plays Joan Crawford who is finding herself in financial difficulty due to the lack of work available for women of her age in Hollywood. Desperate to reclaim former glory, Crawford pitches a movie idea to a director saying she has already got a co-star in mind, who of course turns out to be her arch rival Bette Davis.
Despite both actresses former success, studios are only interested in youth and sex appeal, therefore the project got passed on by many studios before director, Robert Aldrich (Alfred Molina), convinced Jack Warner (Stanley Tucci) to produce the film despite the production company's previous issues with Bette Davis.
Final Thoughts:
Great casting. And wow, what a cast! I wasn't expecting that. From opening with Catherine Zeta Jones as Olivia de Havilland, Stanley Tucci as Jack Warner to Judy Davis (who seems to enjoy these sorts of stories, having played Judy Garland years ago) and Kate Bates. I'm not forgetting, of course, Alfred Molina, who I know has been in many well acted parts but for some reason is permanently embedded in my mind as either Doc Ock (Spider-Man 2) or the shady priest in Da Vinci Code.
You would usually expect me to complain when an actor seems to choose the same character roles so frequently as Lange seems to have done over the past couple of years. Her AHS characters always seemed to follow similar character stories and development: the aging star or matriarch afraid of (or actually) becoming a shadow of her former self, meanwhile bulldozing everyone in her way to stay on top. However, Lange portrays these characters so well I'm not complaining. After her absence from AHS the last few seasons it's a pleasure seeing her again.
While I'm not sure about how I feel about the physical resemblance between Crawford and Lange, Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis (esp in her Baby Jane get up) is down right creepy in it's accuracy.
(image source: https://68.media.tumblr.com/bcc0c38143044e3cebe2cfdb9786b3ee/tumblr_okz3wcI4ix1ui45hlo2_r1_500.gif)
The pilot episode of FX's Feud was well-written and intriguing. I'm looking forward to seeing how the show progresses. I'll be definitely starting my weeks off with The Walking Dead and FX's Feud from now on ;)
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