Opening Night Reviews

Since I have always been intrigued by John Cassavetes's movies, I was quite eager to check out this movie. To be honest, I have to admit that it had been years, even decades, the last time I saw one of his directing efforts. Well, within the first 10 mins, I remembered how challenging his work can be. Indeed, with this movie, Cassavetes probably gave one of the less glamourous and definitely the bleakest look of what it can mean to be an actor. Still, as mentioned before, the damned thing was quite challenging, above all, because the main character was so destructive and also rather pathetic. As a result, I had a hard time to really care about what she was going through. Especially, at the end, when the actual opening night finally took place, I thought it was just infuriating to see her showing up very late, completely inebriated and even barely able to walk. I mean, I didn't really mind the money that could be lost or the fact that the audience maybe showed up for nothing, I was actually pissed off for her crew and colleagues. Indeed, so many people worked so hard so that this drunken diva could go on this stage and there might be 1000's of actresses who would do anything to be in her position but will never get such an opportunity. Still, there is no doubt that Gena Rowlands was just amazing and she gave here such a fearless and pretty much pitch-perfect performance. On top of that, I just love the way Cassavetes shot and edit his scenes, it gives his pictures such a raw and realistic feeling. Anyway, to conclude, even though it wasn't an easy watch, it was still pretty good and it is definitely worth a look, especially if you are interested in Cassavetes's work.