Barrymore

A fabulous movie starring  Christopher Plummer
Here's my Sydney Arts Guide reveiw
http://www.sydneyartsguide.com/View-Review.asp?ReviewID=1209


Christopher Plummer as John ( Jack) Barrymore is magnificent . This was filmed last year at the Elgin Theatre in Toronto , at the  end of a sell out stage season. The stage show was originally seen in 1997 and garnered many awards and this is a recreation of this role now recorded on film.

It’s set in 1942, three months after Pearl harbour and we see Barrymore in a (fictional)  attempt to revive his career . He has hired the aging yet still beautiful and dusty ‘Majestic’ theatre for one night for several reasons – mostly, to run through his lines as Richard 111, with the help of a mostly unseen prompter ( Frank, as played by John Plumptis) and also as a venue to impress backers and gather support for his revival .

The play has off colour jokes, quips, monologues, anecdotes about Barrymore’s family ( his brother Lionel, sister Ethel ) and his tortured relationship with his father Maurice , as well as his love for his grandmother . His relationship as a ladies man is alluded to and we learn about his four wives and the pain of the various divorces, plus other scandals as reported in the press.

Plummer gives a glorious, luminous performance as Barrymore ,one of the stage’s and Hollywood’s most famous and tragic figures. The ageing, sozzled ,formerly dashing matinee idol struggles to make sense of his life before ‘the man in the bright nightgown comes’.

Plummer gives a charismatic , magnetic performance .At one point he is in full Olivier-like Richard 111 regalia, wig, false nose etc and in Richard’s armour he is like a scurrying insect. This is contrasted with the severely classical plainness of his elegantly refined ‘Hamlet’. The ‘what a piece of work is man’ speech is superbly, lyrically done.

Black and white film is used for memories,fading in and out of the colour used for the ‘present’. There is much use of cruel closeup and we see how time and drink has ravaged Barrymore’s elegant looks. Plummer’s voice as Barrymore is superb - he has an incredible range and he has great fun doing take offs of various people and accents .  

Barrymore and his prompter Frank  have a caring yet at times  rocky relationship The play is a major vehicle for Plummer  to show off as Barrymore yet like Holmes and Watson Barrymore needs someone to ‘feed off’ .

The ‘behind the scenes’ shorts are a fascinating extra , with input interwoven from the director, designers ,producer etc and glowing tributes about Plummer from three of his leading ladies .              

Barrymore, directed by Erik Canuel (also the screenwriter), from the play by William Luce, and starring Christopher Plummer and John Plumpis,  screened at selected cinemas on the weekend  of the 26th and 27th August, 2012.

© Lynne Lancaster

27th August, 2012

Tags: Sydney Movie Reviews- BARRYMORE, Erik Canuel, Christopher Plummer, John Plumpis, Sydney Arts Guide, Lynne Lancaster.