Mommie Dearest | | Cast : | Faye Dunaway, Diana Scarwid | | Director : | Frank Perry | | Studio : | Paramount Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen, Dolby | | Released Date : | September 18, 1981 | | DVD Released Date : | July 17, 2001 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Dubbed), English (Original Language), French (Original Language), English (Subtitled) | | Audience Rating : | PG (Parental Guidance Suggested) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | June 26, 2005 | | Summary | Well, in my opinion... | Content
 | I saw an interview with Christina Crawford and I just have to tell you, I think she is a spoiled brat. I don't know what happened in the Crawford home and if abuse resided there then I am so sorry for everyone involved... but what I do know is that it seems like Christina is only worried about money. In the interview she was telling of how horrible her mother was because each year she would get fewer presents at Christmas time. Give me a break! Her mean old mom would even make her give her birthday gifts to children who didn't have the nice things she had. It is amazing what money will do to people. I would rather be poor as can be raising my children with just enough to get by, than raising a couple of spoiled brats! |
| Rating | | | Date | June 21, 2005 | | Summary | I hate Joan Crawford and I HATE MOMMIE DEAREST!!!!!!!! | Content
| I don't know why several of these reviewers think this movie is funny? IT'S NOT!!!!!!! Parents do not force their children at 2:00 am to clean a bathroom and rant and rave about wire hangars!! I feel she wanted children out of jealousy of other parents and that life and the world owed her everything perfect!! Well, Joan, you possessed wannabe, life can't forever be what I want it to be. I want to beat up Mommie Dearest!!! And I want to slam her head into a wall!! I only liked when she died! And on top of the abuses her children had to go through, she disinherits them!! What is that about??!!! I would have demanded that the inheritance go to me, the hell with the will!!!! Giving due credit, she looked beautiful when she went out in her glamour and when she was in her coffin. She looked like an Edwardian lady. That's why I only give this one star! |
| Rating | | | Date | June 15, 2005 | | Summary | give her the respect she is entitled to! | Content
| This is my favorite movie of all time. It is one of the campiest movies ever made (although completely unintentional considering it was suppose to be a serious portrayal of child abuse, ha!). Faye goes over the top as Joan Crawford in an unforgettable performance. I'm just gonna make a few comments about other reviews on this site for this movie. Faye's acting was not cheesy, it was over the top. That is a big difference. Also, for anyone out there that really was abused as a child, well this is not the movie for you. Although, my childhood was not all daisies and lolly pops, and I still find this movie hilarious. I don't believe that Joan Crawford should get reamed for being a strict parent (yes, some things went too far, but how do we know this actually happened?). Christina is just trying to cash in because Joan didn't leave her a cent in her will. Christina coulda been a spoiled little brat who deserved to get beat down, we'll never know. But, one reviewer here had it right, in the 1940's and '50s..PARENTS WERE RUTHLESS when it came to discipline. I hear stories from that generation that would rival this movie. Also, Joan had a horrible childhood too, some even say that her obession with having no wire hangers in the house is because when she was a young child, her and her single mother lived in the back of a laundry and Joan's job was to hang all the clothes on wire hangers. In the end, it's great entertainment that contains some of the best lines in cinema history ("No Wire Hangers!", "Tina, Bring me the Axe!"). Definitely one of the collection. |
| Rating | | | Date | June 06, 2005 | | Summary | Not Funny At All | Content
| I didn't laugh or smile at any of this the slightest bit. I guess you people are incredibly insensitive to child abuse or something. You just lowered my opinion of the human race by several notches. I'd like to move to another planet where people don't think this movie is funny. My father was abusive and the more violent scenes reminded me of how my father treated me. The real Joan was actually much worse than portrayed in this movie. As they did when she was alive, Hollywood is protecting Joan's image by making her seem not so bad. This movie would've been much more powerful if they had characterized Joan faithfully and made it a miniseries. I think they should do a remake and get it right. This movie isn't a disaster like everyone says, but it is lame and mostly dull. I give it a D. It should've had more violence and more vicious displays of anger and verbal abuse, just like was and is in real life! I wouldn't call Fay Dunaway's acting high camp. It's just cheesy acting. One thing I did like was how they showed how phoney Joan's public image was and how her publicists helped concoct phoney family photos for the public. It gives you the sense that society was very vicious and everything public was just a phoney display. I'm glad that now we at least have Child Protective Services and kids can call the police if they're beaten by their parents. But I think kids need even more rights. Parents need to be forced to treat their kids like human beings. I think some powers need to be taken out of the hands of parents because they've been abusing their power for far too long.
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| Rating | | | Date | May 31, 2005 | | Summary | FAYE GOES ALL THE WAY | Content
| If anyone other than the magnificent old school drama diva Faye Dunaway had signed up to portray (that other magnificent-old-school-drama-diva )Joan crawford, this film would have been instantly forgotten. That goes for any number of films featuring miss dunaway's considerable talents. She has a gutsyness and her commitment to character acting is very unique. Never one to play it safe, she goes for the core of the woman in question and entertains us endlessly in the process. ..okay, there is that wonderful tendency to push the facial expressions a touch too far...but It's so much fun to watch! Faye delivers and elevates the art of camp to great heights.
as with all film-bios , the facts are just a starting point. Here we are treated to scene after scene of delicious over acting , glamour gone mad (not even crawford's classic beauty could survive the harshness of 40's heavy hair, frightening brows and overstated shoulders...and on dunaway's less classic beauty it's disasterously unflattering), heavy control issues, knock down-drag out fights and screaming hysteria.
The tension between the actress who plays the very young daughter, christina, couldn't be better matched- they are wonderful together. Unfortunately, the actress who plays her older is not nearly as intense or fun to watch. The character of her personal assistant , Carol Anne, however,is very touchingly played with enormous heart. The men..well, they were there to suit miss Crawfords needs at different stages in her life...and visa versa.
Thank god she had her Carol Anne, they had a special understanding and truly appreciated one another.
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