"Sincerely Yours" was completely savaged in the entertaining book "The Official Razzie Movie Guide" and as a man who actually likes to occasionally see schlocky films, I really looked forward to seeing it. Unfortunately, I think the book oversold how awful the film is. While it sure has problems and ended up ruining Liberaces's planned film career, it isn't like the film is terrible, either. It's just a dull and overlong film with some nice music and occasionally decent plot elements.
In this film, Liberace plays a guy who is pretty much Liberace. He's extremely popular and his concerts are very well attended. However, the guy has two struggles--he would like to see seen as a SERIOUS musician and he is alone and needs the love of a good woman. Believe it or not, back in the 50s a lot of folks bought into this notion--that WHEN Liberace meets the right girl he'll finally settle down and get married. I think the naiveté of this is perhaps why the Razzie folks thought the movie was so silly--along with how unconvincing the film was in making him out to be a great ladies man (in the film TWO women want the pianist). However, before he can achieve his dreams, he's struck down by Hollywood deafness--the sort of thing that MIGHT be curable but you'll never know until the finale! In the interim, instead of just feeling sorry for himself, Liberace spends his time learning to read lips* and eventually uses his money and energy to make the lives of others better. I actually liked this part of the film. What I didn't like were not only the unconvincing romances but the way overabundance of songs. I honestly think Liberace played at least a dozen tunes-- and soon this really caused boredom to set in and I couldn't wait for the film to end. Overall, this is a silly, schmaltzy and inconsequential film that isn't horrible and actually occasionally manages to entertain...a bit.
*One of my daughters is deaf. Learning to read lips (called 'speech reading') is NOT easy and no one can do it nearly as accurately as the folks on TV and in movies--no one. Plus, seeing Liberace watching people in the park to eavesdrop on their conversations just seemed creepy--especially since most of the time, he was staring at little boys. Icky, icky--and a lot more troubling that any of the other rumors folks were murmuring at the time about his sexuality!
In this film, Liberace plays a guy who is pretty much Liberace. He's extremely popular and his concerts are very well attended. However, the guy has two struggles--he would like to see seen as a SERIOUS musician and he is alone and needs the love of a good woman. Believe it or not, back in the 50s a lot of folks bought into this notion--that WHEN Liberace meets the right girl he'll finally settle down and get married. I think the naiveté of this is perhaps why the Razzie folks thought the movie was so silly--along with how unconvincing the film was in making him out to be a great ladies man (in the film TWO women want the pianist). However, before he can achieve his dreams, he's struck down by Hollywood deafness--the sort of thing that MIGHT be curable but you'll never know until the finale! In the interim, instead of just feeling sorry for himself, Liberace spends his time learning to read lips* and eventually uses his money and energy to make the lives of others better. I actually liked this part of the film. What I didn't like were not only the unconvincing romances but the way overabundance of songs. I honestly think Liberace played at least a dozen tunes-- and soon this really caused boredom to set in and I couldn't wait for the film to end. Overall, this is a silly, schmaltzy and inconsequential film that isn't horrible and actually occasionally manages to entertain...a bit.
*One of my daughters is deaf. Learning to read lips (called 'speech reading') is NOT easy and no one can do it nearly as accurately as the folks on TV and in movies--no one. Plus, seeing Liberace watching people in the park to eavesdrop on their conversations just seemed creepy--especially since most of the time, he was staring at little boys. Icky, icky--and a lot more troubling that any of the other rumors folks were murmuring at the time about his sexuality!