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[REVIEW
> BETTY]
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| 04/25/2001 |
 Imagine
a mega-huge movie star along the lines of Julia Robert experiencing
emptiness in her life... |
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Reviewed by Sue Limsukonth
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| Imagine a mega-huge movie star along the
lines of Julia Robert experiencing emptiness in her life.
She takes off to Palm Springs in her brand-spanking new
convertible. Taken along the ride is her old Hollywood
icon image in big, dark diva sunglasses revealing only
her red pouty lips, a scarf tied around her hair, classic
gray trench coat, a slim and long Norma Desmond cigarette
between her fingers - she looks like she just leapt out
from one of those old Hitchcock thrillers. And half-way
before getting to Palm Springs, she pauses by a cliff,
gets out of her car, looks forlornly out into the vastness
in front of her and silently sobs melo-dramatic style
as if she was auditioning for Joan Crawford's role in
"Mildred Pierce." You get the picture. This five-minute
introduction to "Betty" sets a tone for a neurotic movie
that is both likable and unpretentious |
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| Upon arriving in Palm Springs, the world's biggest
film actress by the name of Betty Monday, effectively
portrayed by Cheryl Pollak, goes on a soul-searching spree
to shed her vacant superstar image and become a normal
human being with regular lackluster jobs. Seeing a swimming
pool cleaner scooping up dry leaves one day, she, after
not finding enough dry leaves in her pool to satisfy her
scooping appetite, orders a massive amount of Froot Loops
to be delivered to her rented house, pours the contents
of every single box into the pool and, in turn, simply
scoop them all back up. To get all down and dirty, Betty
goes on to pay the swimming pool cleaner (Stephen Gregory)
a grand if he would let her be his apprentice. When one
type of labor is not enough to shed away her old glamorous
soul, Betty adds two more to her resume in an analgesic
lotion sales lady and golf pro. |
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| This kooky premise might sound a bit too
cute at first, but Betty accomplishes what it intends
to achieve by being a likable film that does not pretend
to be what it is not and a movie that does not slap you
in the face with pretentiousness. Pollak, although looking
so enviably glamorous, gives Betty a congenial quality.
Every time Betty's neurotic behavior gets too much to
bear, we are obliged by her genuine attempt to survive
this crisis. The supporting cast is equally amiable. Udo
Kier, often time typecast as a villain, is comical as
a realtor who helps Betty find a rented house in Palm
Springs. Ron Perlman is warm and nurturing as an old-fashioned
door-to-door analgesic lotion salesman who takes his work
and the product he sells so earnestly as if it were a
miracle potion. Holland Taylor is hilarious as Betty's
over-the-top manager whose only concern is to get Betty
back to the set of that 70-million-dollar film she left
behind. |
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Director and writer Richard Murphy injects some dialogues
that are sometimes trite. But his intentions are warranted
by the fact that the film spoofs the glamour of a tinseltown
diva that turns out to be just another naive girl next
door, albeit a girl next door who looks like Julia Roberts.
.jpg)
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Now
in theatrical release
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