As this film does not do justice to a great novel. I so loved this book I've read it twice. It presents an irascible old woman, warts and all, bad tempered and humourless, and tries to soften her up and give her a raison d'etre.
Hagar, played by the marvellous Ellen Burstyn, is a woman who lives in fear of what her son and anxious daughter in law can do to her. The worst would be a home for the aged and it is happening now.
Through flashbacks, we gain insight into Hagar's life, her lusty marriage to a waster, her sons and her bitterness at the way life has worked out for her.
It is hopelessly and meaninglessly modernized, the book was written in the sixties and here it is translated to modern day with cell phones, etc. It doesn't work. The flashbacks are not smoothly transitioned and at times are oddly placed within the framework of the whole or are too abrupt.
However, that said, the supporting cast are excellent with the younger lusty Hagar played by Christine Horne is a delight. Ellen Page has a small but telling part.
But the film didn't enhance my enjoyment of the book.
6 out of 10.
Hagar, played by the marvellous Ellen Burstyn, is a woman who lives in fear of what her son and anxious daughter in law can do to her. The worst would be a home for the aged and it is happening now.
Through flashbacks, we gain insight into Hagar's life, her lusty marriage to a waster, her sons and her bitterness at the way life has worked out for her.
It is hopelessly and meaninglessly modernized, the book was written in the sixties and here it is translated to modern day with cell phones, etc. It doesn't work. The flashbacks are not smoothly transitioned and at times are oddly placed within the framework of the whole or are too abrupt.
However, that said, the supporting cast are excellent with the younger lusty Hagar played by Christine Horne is a delight. Ellen Page has a small but telling part.
But the film didn't enhance my enjoyment of the book.
6 out of 10.