Culture

Directed by Frank Perry. Starring: Faye Dunaway, Mara Hobel, Diana Scarwid.

Based on the book of the same name by Christina Crawford, Mommie Dearest depicts the bizarre life of Joan Crawford as her daughter saw it. The film begins with a typical morning for Joan Crawford. After a 4am wake-up call, it’s off to the bathroom for a thorough face scrubbing with scalding hot water before dowsing her face in ice-cold water to close those pesky pores. Her beauty regime is not the only thing that Joan is obsessed about; cleaning in general seems to be her bag, that and having those around her follow her every word to the letter, meaning the maid gets a bit of a talking to when the house isn’t 100% spotless.

 
Joan’s career isn’t what it used to be, and with several unsuccessful pregnancy attempts, our Joan is in a bit of a slump. It’s not long though, before Joan becomes the proud adopted mother of Christina and, later in the film, young Christopher. With enough money to splash around, Joan provides Christina with a lot of attention and the very fine things in life. However it isn’t easy being daughter to Miss Crawford and Christina is always held up to her mother’s seemingly unattainable high standards. She is locked in the pool house, has her hair cut off, is beaten with a clothes hanger, and is forced to scrub the bathroom all for failing to behave as Joan would like.
 

The film tries to chronicle various ups and downs in Joan’s career and be, like, dramatic and shit, but this isn’t what the movie is about. While you’re watching it, all you want to see is Joan go mental, man! Yes, it is over the top but that’s what makes it hilarious and why it’s a cult classic. The most memorable scene is of course the wire hanger scene, which has become something of legend. Dunaway makes a remarkable physical transformation into Joan Crawford, though it’s unfortunate that, as a normally good actor, she wasn’t able to rein in her performance. However, like I said before, if it was a well made film with you know, good acting etc, then it wouldn’t be as popular as it is. So my advice would be to not view the film as a docu-drama, but just sit back and enjoy the ride.