The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981, directed by Karel Reisz). This was huge upon release and has been highly acclaimed since, although I somehow missed it. I recorded it a few months ago and have just gotten around to watching it. What a striking film. Brilliant performances from all, particularly Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons, and a highly unusual way of going about telling a story. Famously, it was widely believed that the book could not be filmed. I’ve read that author John Fowles was dissatisfied with adaptations of two of his novels and that much time and effort went into finding the right director and approach for this film. According to online sources, a number of high-profile filmmakers were contacted and none were able to submit acceptable proposals. The job went to Fowles’ first choice, Karel Reisz, who had also believed the book couldn’t be filmed. As most of you know, the solution they found was to tell two stories: one set in the Victorian era and the other in modern times which shows the filming of that story.
A short way in, I thought I wasn’t going to like the film for several reasons, but the story is intriguing and, as I say, the acting is superb. I was surprised to find nothing online about the performance of Patience Collier as Mrs. Poulteney, the puritanical and authoritarian employer of Streep’s character. I’ve read that she’s supposed to be “a stereotype, a conglomerate of all the malicious old villainesses who have appeared in numerous Victorian novels.” Collier takes it way over the top, in the best of ways, relying almost entirely on her tone of voice and pronunciation to deliver what I found to be a hilariously terrifying performance. I wonder if Judy Parfitt drew on that for inspiration in her interpretation of a similar character in the film Dolores Claiborne.
I’ve noticed something else of which I’ve found no online references. As I said above, the film tells two stories, and I thought I noticed at least one actor, besides Streep and Irons, appearing in both. Lynsey Baxter, who plays Iron’s character’s Victorian-era wife, looks an awful lot like the woman appearing in this clip at 0:26.
He spent ten minutes of his standup special to talk about the grand parent you can afford to lose. And it didn’t make a whole lot of sense at the time, but at the very end of the show it was revealed that it was a burn on the 8 friends that tried to save his life but he felt were redundant.
You know, like normal people do.
John Mulaney is in the middle of a life crisis proportion meltdown he still doesn’t see despite his stint in rehab and Netflix thought you’d like to watch it.
I feel like I am taking crazy pills here. Does anyone else see this?
I will watch it this week and get back to you. I want to believe he’s okay.
It’s odd that apparently the only celebrities I feel any emotion about are comedians. Like I was really feeling it when Patton went through his rough patch.
Adding to my post about The French Lieutenant’s Woman, I’ve just had another look and can now confirm that several actors appear in both stories. In the scene in which Irons’ modern-era character arranges a lunch at his house for the film cast and crew, several of the actors are clearly visible, including Lynsey Baxter, Leo McKern (who plays Dr. Grogan) and Patience Collier. I guess it’s unsurprising, although Streep and Irons are the only cast members whose credits indicate two characters.
I watched it last weekend and you’re not wrong. I mostly knew him from SNL where he was totally upbeat and goofy and, most importantly, funny as hell (and also high as a kite, apparently), and that was what I was expecting. This performance was weird and kind of sad. He’s still inherently funny but he’s like a walking, talking example of a dry drunk. The grandparent thing was strange and could have been funny but I kind of felt like he meant it. Can you remind me how he tied that in with the members of the intervention?
The script was written by Harold Pinter, one of the greatest British playwrights of all time, who also did a lot of writing and adapting for film. (Including a 1987 film of Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale).
I saw it in theatrical release and loved it . Made me insist on going to Lyme Regis when I visited the UK nearly 30 years ago.
I know a movie was made of John Fowles The Magus, but I can’t imagine it being made as a single film. A miniseries maybe. I’ve read the book, and I’d love to see a decent miniseries done with it.
I don’t know if I have the sand to watch that Mulaney special. I used to be a Mulaney superfan. I loved everything he did. SNL, comedy specials, writing, Oh Hello on Broadway, random appearances on talk shows and all over YouTube.
And then one day he said to his wife (while his personal social media was filled with how much he loved her and their little pug, Petunia), “kick rocks, I want to go fuck Olivia Munn because I have a lot of money now.”
I lost all respect for him I ever had.
P.S. - Olivia Munn is a shithead too, lest you think I just have it in for John.
To be fair, we certainly don’t know that’s how it went down. None of us can say what their marriage was like behind the social media posts, or what other challenges they may have been going through.
Ha-ha, I was also intrigued and spent part of yesterday poking around the area with Google Maps and Google Earth. I suppose you made it out to The Cobb?
It really is like therapy in a lot of ways, but then stand-up comedians have a long history of using their acts to process their life traumas, addictions and general bad behaviors (I mean, if you’ve never seen Richard Pryor’s bit about setting himself on fire while on drugs you’ve missed out). Mulaney’s show is often uncomfortable and he clearly has a long way to go on whatever journey he’s on, but I still enjoyed it for what it is.
I thought it was hilarious, but it definitely showed a darker side to Mulaney and you can see how he might actually be a bit of an asshole. I didn’t get the impression he was in the middle of a crisis but rather in the immediate aftermath and still raw about it. It’s definitely the most personal thing he’s ever done. I think he’s in a tough situation because his reputation irrevocably changed, so you can’t just go back to the old routine. He has to change with it.
My husband thought he played it too safe and it seemed superficial to him. He said it did not give him confidence that Mulaney wouldn’t relapse again. But my husband is comparing it to soul-baring sets like Rothanial which I don’t think is fair.
As far as the grandparents thing tying into the intervention…I didn’t see that at all. I kept waiting for it and it never came, but in retrospect I’m guessing it was the bit where he said he knew which six of the twelve people to cut. I know it’s bad form to express some bitterness toward people who helped you, but a Zoom intervention? That is so low effort.
And when I really think about it, I think if my twelve closest loved ones saved my life it would kind of screw up my relationship with all of them. You’re no longer truly equals after that, you’re always sort of feeling like an object of pity, especially with an ego the size of Mulaney’s I don’t think that would be easy.
My husband and I got into a legit heated argument about whether Mulaney is a scumbag for doing that. He said he wouldn’t have enjoyed the show if he’d known beforehand. He even played the feminism card - this is a prime example of how men treat women as interchangeable objects and free therapy.
My argument is that he was probably pretty fucked up and vulnerable after rehab and while I think it was a bad decision to have a child with someone he just met, I wasn’t going to judge him as a bad person for it.
My argument was essentially, “But it’s John Mulaney! Why do you have to be so judgmental of this person I like?” So I guess husband won.
“And when I really think about it, I think if my twelve closest loved ones saved my life it would kind of screw up my relationship with all of them. You’re no longer truly equals after that, you’re always sort of feeling like an object of pity, especially with an ego the size of Mulaney’s I don’t think that would be easy.”
So very true. And I think I agree with your husband’s lack of confidence in JM not relapsing. I wonder if he still has a sponsor and if so, how vehemently that sponsor advised him this might not be the time for a comeback.
Thanks, @Spice_Weasel, fr reminding me about the joke.
Of course! There were also some ladies working on a needlework panel to commemorate Drake. They were fundraising by charging a pound to do one stitch. My friend and I both did one, and the two ladies were happy to have Americans participate since it was Drake being honored.
[quote=“Spice_Weasel, post:6559, topic:699906, full:true”]It’s odd that apparently the only celebrities I feel any emotion about are comedians. Like I was really feeling it when Patton went through his rough patch.
[/quote]
I agree with you completely. My issue here is not that it just wasn’t funny, it kinda was. My issue is it turns out John Mulaney is not a good person.
Patton Oswalt does not have that problem, his issues and how he spoke about them only made me like him more.
Just watched A Man Called Otto and really enjoyed it. Tom Hanks as usual did a good job along with the other actors. I had seen A Man Called Ove and really liked it as well. At first, I thought the Hanks version would soften it up a bit, but they really didn’t.