Me? I fall somewhere in the middle. When she's on and appearing in the right vehicle, she can be terrific. About ten years ago, I saw her one-woman-show "At Liberty" with my writing partner. I thought it was inventive and hilarious.
My friend had the opposite polar attraction.
"God, I'm glad that's over."
Yep, that's Elaine Stritch. And, as we learn in this fascinating new documentary, she probably doesn't care what you think. She's going to be her own person and do her own thing. For that, I suppose we are lucky. Because after a very long career in films and on Broadway, she's now in her late 80s. And facing the end. Of both her time on the stage of the Shubert Theater.
And that stage we call life.
The filmmakers here follow Elaine for about a year as she literally crawls from one rehearsal studio for a supper club act to another. Now a diabetic with increasingly frequent episodes of confusion due to low blood sugar, Miss Stritch allows the cameras to keep rolling. We watch her life. Her ups and many downs. It is raw. It is organic. It is painful to watch. But your eyes never divert from that screen.
You see a longtime show business pro holding onto her career with as much strength as she can. She doesn't want to let go because she knows that, if she does, she likely will die. Indeed, she is nothing unless she's on that stage, croaking out one Stephen Sondheim song after another. She must have that audience in front of her so she can keep moving and breathing and living.
Stritch, a well-known recovering alcoholic, is candid when she talks about her past career and the role that a bottle of booze played in its direction. The tales she tells are frank, candid, and immensely real. It's a struggle for her to this day. She reasons that, at this late point in her life, she should be able to cope with just one drink a day. But she realizes how foolhardy that is.
Meanwhile, the episodes of forgetfulness due to low blood sugar are staggeringly hard to absorb. She suddenly can't remember the lyrics of a song that she's probably done over a thousand times. She gets frustrated and angry. She realizes that she is one step closer to the end.
Indeed, a good friend of mine told me that she actually witnessed one of these brain blips a few years ago when she watched Stritch co-star with Bernadette Peters in a revival of "A Little Night Music." Elaine fell apart mid-performance and had to be replaced for the second act.
My guess is that, after seeing this documentary, Elaine was back in there the very next day. Once again, it is the audience which is the life force she craves.
I've often wondered why some show business performers just keep going. Betty White, now in her 90s, is still working her butt off. I remember about a decade when I myself had some dealings with "Desperate Housewives" creator Marc Cherry. He had worked with Betty on "The Golden Girls." Marc told me that he knew Betty will never retire.
"She has it in her mind that, if she quits, she will die."
So, too, is the thought process of Elaine Stritch and that's the main take-away in this superlative documentary. Heck, she can barely sing now and she more stumbles than walks.
But, once that musical introduction begins, she is now there in front of the footlights. Doing what she can to make you love her.
And, even if you don't, she's going to keep on trying. Because that's all she knows how to do.
LEN'S RATING: Three and a half stars.
Dinner last night: Sandwich and salad.
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