So last night I stayed up and watched Liz & Dick. I won't go into the details, but it didn't live up to the hype. Then, I see on Twitter that people are butchering the movie and the performances and how bad they made Elizabeth look (adulterer, drunk, temperamental) and how Richard Burton came off looking like a rambling drunk. Um....Am I the only one that read anything about this before hand?
Okay, first off, I am a huge Elizabeth Taylor fan and I could listen to Richard Burton talk for hours, but we are not talking about two saints. Elizabeth married and divorced Nicky Hilton, then married Mike Wilding and cheated on him with Mike Todd, she was still married to Mike Wilding when she became pregnant with Mike Todd's baby, then married Mike Todd and they were together until his death in a plane crash, then she began an affair with Eddie Fisher who was married to Debbie Reynolds at the time (think Angelina-Brad-Jennifer on a bigger fame scale), her and Eddie get married, then she begins the affair with Richard Burton who was also married at the time.
The pope condemned the relationship, it almost bankrupted a studio, and ruled all the tabloid pages. Elizabeth and Richard were famous for their public fights, their drinking, and their spending. The movie captured all of that. How well the movie captured and portrayed it is debatable.
I won't go into the performances, but I will say that no one can act Elizabeth Taylor. It's an impossible feat to undertake and all will fail in varying degrees. That is one act that is just too hard to copy (at least while she is still so fresh in our memories).
What strikes me about the real Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was that all consuming desire to be together. Call it selfish, call it irresponsible, or whatever you want, but those two risked their families, careers, and sanity to be together. The sad thing? Passion that intense is destined to burn out.
Often, when people discuss Elizabeth Taylor and her many marriages, people debate on whether it was Mike Todd or Richard Burton that was the great love of her life, others might say that Elizabeth was the great love of Elizabeth's life. I, for one, think that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were the great loves of each others life, but that the celebrity of celebrities "Liz & Dick" ruined it.
So, did you see the movie? You don't have to be as impartial as I tried to be. What did you think?
Okay, first off, I am a huge Elizabeth Taylor fan and I could listen to Richard Burton talk for hours, but we are not talking about two saints. Elizabeth married and divorced Nicky Hilton, then married Mike Wilding and cheated on him with Mike Todd, she was still married to Mike Wilding when she became pregnant with Mike Todd's baby, then married Mike Todd and they were together until his death in a plane crash, then she began an affair with Eddie Fisher who was married to Debbie Reynolds at the time (think Angelina-Brad-Jennifer on a bigger fame scale), her and Eddie get married, then she begins the affair with Richard Burton who was also married at the time.
The pope condemned the relationship, it almost bankrupted a studio, and ruled all the tabloid pages. Elizabeth and Richard were famous for their public fights, their drinking, and their spending. The movie captured all of that. How well the movie captured and portrayed it is debatable.
I won't go into the performances, but I will say that no one can act Elizabeth Taylor. It's an impossible feat to undertake and all will fail in varying degrees. That is one act that is just too hard to copy (at least while she is still so fresh in our memories).
What strikes me about the real Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton was that all consuming desire to be together. Call it selfish, call it irresponsible, or whatever you want, but those two risked their families, careers, and sanity to be together. The sad thing? Passion that intense is destined to burn out.
Often, when people discuss Elizabeth Taylor and her many marriages, people debate on whether it was Mike Todd or Richard Burton that was the great love of her life, others might say that Elizabeth was the great love of Elizabeth's life. I, for one, think that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton were the great loves of each others life, but that the celebrity of celebrities "Liz & Dick" ruined it.
So, did you see the movie? You don't have to be as impartial as I tried to be. What did you think?
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