Too much of everything

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

This is NOT a Janis Joplin movie. However the character of Rose is clearly influenced by Joplin and her life, in her later years becoming known as "Pearl" by her fans. She didn't have many "later years", she died of a heroin overdose, possibly exacerbated by alcohol, when she was only 27. Bette Midler is Mary Rose Foster, known simply as "Rose." She is a very undisciplined person, one boyfriend made the remark "Your life is like a grenade range." She has no boundaries, neither for herself or for how she relates to others. Her hair, her cheap jewelry, her glasses all remind us of Joplin. Like Joplin she is a talented singer, lives a hard life, and dies young, but in a different circumstance. This was one of Midler's earlier roles, some years before Beaches (1988) and Stella (1990), but in all these movies she is just great. Many may believe that because she is primarily a singer that she is only adequate as an actress, but she puts everything into her roles and always excels.Just a word about her singing in "The Rose". It is important to realize she was singing in a raspy voice and style created for the character. The only song where she is using her normal Bette Midler voice is the closing song, after her death: Some say love, it is a river ... That drowns the tender reed... Some say love, it is a razor ... That leaves your soul to bleed ... Some say love, it is a hunger ... An endless aching need... I say love, it is a flower ... And you its only seed.Terrific movie.

Apologies to fans of this film, but I found it shrill and vastly over-rated.The characters and performances are, on the whole, poorly written and acted. Ms. Midler emotes her heart out, which is occasionally effective but is more often histrionic. She is ridiculously over-the-top, veering from vicious drag-queen to out-of-control drunk to weepy little girl. Her manager is a tedious cardboard villain while her boyfriend displays moments of charm but can't avoid the overwrought pitfalls of the film.The sequence with the former lesbian lover of the Midler character highlights what is wrong with the film. It was contrived and unbelievable, the lovely former lover a wooden prop to set up another scene of people freaking out. It all rang hollow and false and loud and melodramatic. What unlikeable people! The era it documents is tragic from an aesthetic point-of-view. Whether it is the hair, clothing, or sets, everything in the film matches the characters: ugly. The sequence in the red-neck diner comes to mind for the same reason: ugly dialogue, ugly behavior, ugly attitudes. This is a film for masochists and connoisseurs of ugliness.The only blessing is that the ending precluded the possibility of a sequel. I was grateful when this film was finally over. If I want a trashy melodrama, I want it to include some fun and some comedy, both of which are utterly absent from The Rose.

I'm at a loss to explain the success of this movie. It's not that it was awful, but I didn't see anything that special about it. Maybe there was something groundbreaking in 1979 that I'm missing, having not seen it then.Short form, I feel like all I saw was Bette Midler alternately crying and screaming. This may well be what such people go through, and to her credit, Midler cries and screams with the best of them, but I'm exhausted, and not in a cathartic way. I'm exhausted from trying to find some reason to care about this character, who never seems to be empathetic, and never seems to make any good decisions. To make matters worse, I've watched the film on This TV, which pads movies with extra commercials, so I've had three hours of crying and screaming.If this truly was Janis Joplin's life, if there was never a happy moment for her to just relax and enjoy, then I feel for the poor child.

"The Rose" -which they say was inspired by Joplin's life- has stood the test of time quite well;the main reason is Bette Middler's sensational performance .She has not still yet found another part as rewarding as Rose .Full of strong scenes and of extraordinary renditions (the title track and "when a man loves a woman" particularly),it grabs you till the last picture (a light which goes out).The scene in the gay nightclub where another Rose,"Diana Ross" and "Barbra Streisand" join the singer for a song is almost scary.So is that scene when a respectable country singer -Rose covered one of his songs - treats the poor girl like dirt ,this man must be a saint or else he is a hypocrite:could you imagine ,say,Kris Kristofferson blaming Janis Joplin for covering "Me and Bobby McGee " ,a tune she took to number one ? With fine support from Alan Bates as the evil manager and Frederick Forrest as the big hearted deserter,"the rose" still remains one of the best film about the cruel thankless world of rock.It avoids the mistakes of movies dealing with true stars (Ray Manzarek did not think much of "the Doors" ).