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- Inspired by the true story of tobacco billionairess Doris Duke and her devoted Irish butler Bernard Lafferty, the touching HBO Films drama Bernard and Doris stars Oscar? winner Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) and Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient). After failed relationships with her previous waitstaff, Doris meets Lafferty, fresh out of rehab and without a penny to his name. She takes him on a
Although American WWII pilot Larry Douglas (Beck) promises to marry French femme fatale Noelle Page (Pisier), he instead returns Stateside and marries well-to-do Catherine Alexander (Sarandon). And once Noelle takes a Greek multi-millionaire (Raf Vallone) as a lover, she plots to shame Larry by arranging for him to be the tycoonÂ's private pilot. But in one of many delicious twists of fate in this gripping tale of love, war and betrayal, Noelle and Larry again become passionate, and when Catherine refuses to divorce Larry, the cheating couple seek a murderous revenge.An over-the-top film co-starring a young and gorgeous Susan Sarandon, The Other Side of Midnight is a deliciously melodramatic adaptation of Sidney Sheldon's sweeping (and often schlocky) novel of the same name. Released theatrically in 1977, the film focuses on the intermingling lives of sexily innocent Noelle (Marie-France Pisier), who has a brief affair with a cad n! amed Larry (John Beck), who ends up marrying wealthy and proper Catherine (Sarandon). When Noelle and Larry meet first lock eyes, he is a dashing World War II American fighter pilot who professes his love for her. But when she discovers she is pregnant with his baby, he is nowhere to be found. So what's a poor girl to do but abort her baby, rise to stardom as one of the world's most famous actresses, and plot revenge against her duplicitous ex-lover? But faster than you can say, "You go, girl!" (or "Oh no she didn't," depending on your point of view), Noelle once again falls for Larry's vaguely porn star charms. But what to do with Catherine, who refuses to divorce her cheating spouse? Make no mistake about it: The Other Side of Midnight is not quality filmmaking and is probably not something Academy Award winner Sarandon even lists on her resume. But she is a joy to watch, even as she has to deliver clunky lines such as, "If you don't love me, Larry, don't lay me." ! This is not a great movie. Heck, it's not even a particularly ! good mov ie. But it's one of those guilty pleasures that you'll watch all the way through, even as you're complaining about the implausibility of it all. --Jae-Ha KimGlenn Savan's depressing and self-loathing novel about a 27-year-old upper-class Jewish widower mired in self-pity after his beloved wife dies, and who finds love and sexual rebirth with a trailer-trash older woman, was brought to the big screen by the competent director Luis Mandoki (When a Man Loves a Woman, Message in a Bottle). But the savage irony in Savan's book has been face-lifted by screenwriters Ted Tally (The Silence of the Lambs) and Alvin Sargent (Ordinary People) into something else entirely: what passes for low-rent "slumming" in Hollywood means hiring sexy Susan Sarandon to play Nora Baker, the poor, uneducated 43-year-old waitress in a White Palace burger joint who strikes up an unlikely relationship with sad Max Baron (James Spader). Widower Max attends a bachelor part! y for best pal Neil (Jason Alexander) and discovers that the local White Palace has stiffed the boys a whopping six burgers. Max barges into the joint, bent on getting his money back, and meets a testy Nora, who is bemused at the young man's insolence. While driving home, Max stops abruptly at a bar for a drink. Inside, Nora is nursing a vodka and takes a shine to the tuxedo-clad, handsome, and morose younger man. He gives her a lift, she seduces him, and the rest of the movie examines how two such opposites in manners and morals can find happiness. The only common bond they have is great sex and a private tragedy. White Palace nudges at the dark journey and the smashing of illusion that was at the heart of the novel, but there is still a fairy-tale element to the film that negates the earthy essence that distinguished the book. In Mandoki's vision, White Palace is about overcoming class, family, and outside opinion to find true love. In Savan's book, Max wast! es into decline while Nora ultimately thrives in the quest for! truth, redemption, and self-forgiveness. She becomes his salvation only after he stops hating himself. But mainstream Hollywood shuns making "protagonists" so mad, bad, or sad, and as such, too much glitter is tossed on Spader, while Sarandon, as usual, is the only one who seems to embody and understand her character's angst. She deserved her Oscar for Nora, not the nun in Dead Man Walking. --Paula NechakInspired by the true story of tobacco billionairess Doris Duke and her devoted Irish butler Bernard Lafferty, the touching HBO Films drama Bernard and Doris stars Oscar® winner Susan Sarandon (Dead Man Walking) and Ralph Fiennes (The English Patient). After failed relationships with her previous waitstaff, Doris meets Lafferty, fresh out of rehab and without a penny to his name. She takes him on as her butler and he is put in the unenviable position of having to convince the notoriously demanding Duke to keep him in her employ. Directed by Bob Balaban (Gosford Park),! the film effectively captures the elegance of a bygone era and is scored with countless musical standards, such as Peggy Lee's "The Best Is Yet To Come". Bernard and Doris tells the witty and endearing tale of an unconventional bond between a society "princess" and her flawed "pauper" of a butler. Bravura turns by Ralph Fiennes and Susan Sarandon in the title roles carry Bernard and Doris, director Bob Balaban’s 2007 film about the long relationship between zillionaire tobacco heiress-philanthropist Doris Duke and her butler, Bernard Lafferty. These are two fine actors (Sarandon has been nominated for five Oscars, winning for Dead Man Walking, while Fiennes has been nominated twice) at the top of their games. That’s a good thing, as they are on screen almost constantly; and the truth is that other than the evolution of the Duke-Lafferty bond, not a lot actually happens. Sarandon delivers a measured, almost casual performance as Duke, a woman who seems rel! atively unpretentious (if clearly entitled) about her vast for! tune, de spite have done absolutely nothing to earn it. Duke barely even acknowledges her various employees, except to fire them (or occasionally sleep with them; the twice-married heiress has a predilection for studly, much younger men)--until Lafferty comes along, that is. Stone broke and fresh out of rehab (his alcoholism is an ongoing theme), the shy Irishman gradually ingratiates himself with his demanding employer until he becomes as much a companion as a servant. It helps that as a gay man, he has no interest in seducing her; moreover, unlike the many others who are out to get their hands on her money, Lafferty seems to genuinely value loyalty and friendship over more venal concerns ("I just want to take care of you," he says in one of several poignant scenes), and he’s rewarded with several million dollars and full control of her estate after her death (in 1993). Fiennes is also admirably restrained in a role that could have been meretricious and over the top; combine that ! with a fine script (by Hugh Costello) and some great songs by Peggy Lee, and a splendid time is guaranteed for all. --Sam Graham
