Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool (2017) ***1/2

 

If you have any doubts about Annette Bening's acting prowess, this movie should put them to rest. The prolific actress has sometimes felt a bit sharp-edged to me. I think it's a combination of her trademark short hair and the deeply unsympathetic character she played in the film “American Beauty.” All of that is forgotten, now. In “Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool” she gives a nuanced, heartbreaking performance that has completely won me over.

The film is based on the memoir of the same name, written by Peter Turner about his relationship with a much-older woman, the Oscar-winning actress Gloria Grahame, in her last years. Grahame was a talented actress, but, like many movie stars, a bit of a hot mess. She had 4 husbands, and her fourth, Tony Ray, happened to be the son of her second husband, film director Nicholas Ray. Nicholas alleged that Grahame's relationship with Tony started when Tony was just 13, back when she was married to Nicholas. That salacious accusation was never proven, but the scandal overshadowed her career. Between that and having been typecast as a film-noir vixen, Grahame eventually found the movie roles hard to come by. She never stopped working, however. She returned to the stage, doing small film and TV roles at times, and she worked up until she died at the age of 57.

“Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool” only hints at all that backstory. The film focuses on the last 2 years of Grahame's life, the period of her relationship with Turner, who was almost 30 years her junior. This doesn't come off nearly as creepy in the movie as you might think. Bening plays Grahame as a woman who was still very vibrant and sexy in her mid-50s. Bening's performance, in fact, is the entire reason to watch what is really a quiet, little film. Jamie Bell does a fine job as Peter Turner, and Julie Walters is charming as his mother Bella, but this is very much Annette Bening's movie. She commits fully to a portrayal of Gloria Grahame that will win your heart and then break it.

3.5 stars out of 5