Rating: 
Summary: One of the greatest bad movies ever made!
Review: This is just a great bad movie, right up there with "Plan Nine From Outer Space". The movie is not a great piece of cinimatic history. But it is a fun movie to watch. The DVD has nothing extra to speak of on it, other than being in widescreen. Faye Dunaway was done up to look very much like Joan Crawford at times looking TOO much like Joan Crawford. The acting is way over the top, as is the "drama". While watching the movie it's good to keep in mind that it is almost totally fiction. True, Joan Crawford was never going to win the mother of the year award. But even Christina Crawford does not like this film, as her mother is presented as a total psycho. The studio did not like her original screenplay based on her novel of the same name, so the studio redid it to suit their liking. The movie paints Christina to be a bitter child of a celebrity. The fact is that through it all Christina loved her mother. And although much of what's depicted in the film did happen, it wasn't to that extent. The wire hanger scene did happen, but not the same night as the bathroom floor scene. All these things took place over the course of several months. Anyway, it's a great trashy film, watch it on Mother's Day and think of mom.
Rating:
Summary: Haunting!
Review: Since I was only one-year old when this movie was released, I didn't view it for the first time until many years later. I had heard stories of Joan Crawford and the way she treated her children, but I never dreamed that she was anything like the way she was portrayed in this movie!Faye Dunaway gives a very haunting performance as the legendary Joan Crawford almost flawlessly. Sometimes you could look at her and notice the truly uncanny resemblance between the two women. What was scariest was Joan Crawford's treatment of her children. I truly felt sorry for them and actually saw Joan Crawford as a calculating and manipulative woman who wanted perfect order no matter what cost. Faye Dunaway screaming, "NO MORE WIRE HANGERS!" while on a tirade through Christina's and Christopher's room is an image that will forever be seared into my mind. I even had the opportunity to read Christina Crawford's book, "Mommie Dearest," and it's scarier than the movie. How she and her siblings managed to make it through is amazing! Joan Crawford was a wonderful actress and is a legend, but her treatment of people left something to be desired (to put it lightly). This movie is one that glues you to the screen. Even though you've seen it before, you can't help but watch it over and over again.
Rating: 
Summary: The Story of My Life
Review: I am 32 years old, and I call my mother "Mommie Dearest" because she is in many ways the same and in many ways worse than the Joan Crawford character in this movie. When I got away from home and went to college, no one believed how awful my mother was. The same stuff... I'd come home from work at 6am after the late night shift and she'd insist on vacuuming my bedroom at 9am. She insisted I was adopted (I wasn't), locked me out of the house almost every night because she didn't believe me that I had soccer practice or whatever (even when I was 12), locked me out in the rain to teach me lessons, threw food at me at the dinner table, yelled at me for helping her take in the groceries, put me in the backyard in my high chair as a toddler so the neighbors could watch me when I wasn't eating my food, put my hand on the stove burners, threw all my clothes out the window, didn't allow me to have a bedroom door, and said all the same stupid lines in this movie. My mother made me watch this movie when it came out because she wanted to show us that we kids deserved to be treated poorly (she loves Mommie Dearest). My sister was tied to her bed with a jump rope because she wanted to go play with her friends after school, and my mother didn't want her to. Seeing my sister there was the saddest moment of my life. My mother physcially hit me and abused me every day from a toddler to 18, and even some more after that. At the age of 32, I have nightmares for months because of her. We don't deserve to be called "liars" who have "campy mothers". This movie is the story of my life.
Rating:
Summary: "For Reasons Which Are Well Known To Them"
Review: I have noticed a lot of reviews that comment on the truthfulness of this movie as it reflects Christina Crawford's story. In reality this movie is a cartoon, made more glaringly obvious by the book, given the latter's attention to detail, context, and chronology. This movie is pure, unmitigated, campy trash that resembles the book only in the collection of loosely interpreted "facts" that thread the movie together. Christina Crawford has stated that she hated this movie, and who could blame her? Joan Crawford was a Borderline/Histrionic personality with Obsessive-Compulsive tendencies, and perhaps may have received treatment today, given what we know about mental illness. On top of that, she was a raging alcoholic, and it is curious that even profiles of JC on TV, where people go on and on about how disciplined she is, they will show old clips of her appearing on talk shows completely smashed, and it is widely known that she was drunk throughout many of her later films. Many people have chosen to paint Christina as whiny, vindictive, jealous, and petty (the "Biography" on A&E about JC that discussed her children was particulary cruel, one-sided, and almost quaint in its 1950s-style "let's-blame-the-victim" mentality). Christina Crawford certainly didn't ask to be adopted by an addictive, controlling, insecure mess, and after being cut out of her mother's will -basically, JC slapped her across the face one more time, from the other side - she damn well deserved to set the record straight. Long story short, please read her book before you make up your mind (the 20th Anniversary edition provides more insight and detail than the original edition), and do not judge her story by this awful (although very, very funny) movie.
Rating:
Summary: Clean up this mess!!
Review: Ever since 1978, I have been unable to escape MOMMIE DEAREST! First, I received the scathing, tell-all by daughter Christina Crawford for Christmas that year, and it made for one fascinating read! Then, in 1981, I saw Mommie Dearest on the big screen. Well, of course, they'd changed some things, compressed a few scenes here and there, and paid absolutely no attention to Joan's early life as a struggling actress (and part-time waitress). That's ok, though, cause what they left us with was 100% beef! Faye Dunaway is absolutely stupendous as Joan, though she's nowhere as beautiful as Joan was in her prime (which is when Mommie Dearest, the movie, begins). At times, the make-up is amazing...but there are other moments when it appears outlandish, even (dare I say) frightening. Those lips! And especially those insane eyebrows! They look like they've been painted on with a magic marker! Be that as it may, her performance is top-notch all the way. Certainly the challenge was a daunting one--Crawford had only been dead a few years, and most modern audiences remember her from horror films, like Trog and Berserk. Dunaway captures Joan's essence just enough to suggest the real thing...and she's the only reason for seeing (and owning) Mommie Dearest. Frankly, I laughed when she started beating the ... out of that obnoxious little actress who played young Christina. The wire-hangers scene was a hoot! And Diana Scarwid, as adult Christina, is so zombie-like, you swear she's on anti-depressants (and this was before anti-depressants were all the rage). Plus, she speaks with a distinct "twang" to her voice--what, was Christina a Texan? When Joan freaks out and jumps on Christina, pounding her head into the carpet, I almost lost my jujubes! I can't imagine filming this scene--both actresses must have been busting a gut laughing between takes. As for Joan's near and dear secretary, I have no idea who the actress is--but she wears the most unconvincing "old lady" make-up I've ever seen. All in all, I recommend Mommie Dearest, both as book and film--the the DVD print is really gorgeous. But do we really need to know that Joan was mean, that she drank, and was a floozy who bedded younger men? Heck, she was a STAR! And that's what stars do! Would we expect any OTHER behavior? People like Joan Crawford were made for the Ages--and Christina's book only added to her mystique. Joan, here's to you! Mommie dearest, indeed!
Rating:
Summary: Diva on a rampage
Review: This movie is my #1 guilty-pleasure when it comes to movies. Yes, it is camp and over the top, but like they say, they don't make 'em like this anymore. Of course, this movie would be NOTHING without the peerless Faye Dunaway. A virtual facial contortionist, she plays up every scene and mood change. She also is able to act the part of the Hollywood diva very well. And this movie is full of diva behavior. Take, for example, the scene in which she chops up the rose garden, dressed in haute couture, the side of her face bruised and cut. She mutters "box office poison" and all of the other awful things that Mayer told her, and makes her unfortunate small children haul away the wreckage. Then, she wields an axe like nobody's business. This is a priceless diva moment. Mommie Dearest is full of similar moments. Take, for example, the scene that occurs shortly after she made Christina endure the swimming lesson from hell. Faye (Joan) coolly informs Christina that she will always be bigger and faster than her. Her face is perfectly made up, her hair wrapped in a white towel, a la Marilyn Monroe. She gives her young daughter a wonderful "top this, b...ch" look. She repeats this look, even more effectively, when Christina comes into her room to whine about her missing dolls in a later scene. The rivalry between mother and daughter is very riveting. From the dramatic point of view, the actress that plays the child Christina is way better than the older Christina. Mara (young Christina) chews the scenery just as much as Faye. Take, for example, when she slowly closes the door after her mother accepts the award for the Oscar on her front porch. She stares at the paparazzi longingly, wanting to enjoy what her mother enjoys. Also, there is the scene when she walks in on her mother making out with the good-looking younger man. Instead of running out of the room, she stands there, Lolita-esque, just staring and staring. Her mother exacts her retribution by packing her off to boarding school! Of course, the abuse scenes are the most effective of all. Try as I might, I can't sit through the sissors, wire hanger, or choke scenes without bursting into laughter. Call me sick, or jaded. Of the three, the wire hanger scene is the best. If they had stopped at the beating, that would have been enough, but then Joan goes further with it. She drags Christina into the bathroom, criticizes an obviously spotless floor (that she made her own young daughter clean when she has a maid (!) ), and then proceeds by showering her with cleaning powder. It really breaks my heart when I see young Christina there, teary-eyed, saying "Jesus Christ". I never laugh at that part. Then, her younger brother comes to help, and she begs him to go back to bed. Poor thing. Older Christina is a disappointment. First, she has that twangy accent. Are we really to believe that Joan Crawford's daughter spoke this way? The most annoying part is when she flatly says, "We'll manage" (twice), in the scene when her mother tearfully tells her of losing another movie contract. As for Faye Dunaway, I wish they hadn't made her say "I'm damn mad!" twice. That's the only line she utters that irritates me. This is the one movie that I could watch endlessly. It is a tour de force, and camp to boot.
Rating:
Summary: Nothing funny about this movie...
Review: I saw this movie as a teen with my mom, & in a way it became our "Mother/Daughter bonding movie" as twisted as it sounds. It is one of my favorite movies of all time & I think this movie doesn't get even an ounce of the respect it deserves from reviewers. I have never read the book, so there's a possibility of missing some "Big Picture", but I really enjoyed the story they peiced together. I never seem to be bored while watching this movie, & I have never gotten tired of seeing it either. I thought the acting was done beautifully by all characters, especially the two main characters (the younger Christina included). Faye Dunaway really pulls off a performance that still gives me chills when I see the face she makes as she's leaving Christina to scrub the bathroom floor. Alot of reviewers have talked about how "funny" this movie is, but I find nothing funny about it. It has the usual jokes now & then, but truely I've never even cracked a smile while watching this movie, it was never meant to be funny. There is nothing funny about child abuse, alcoholism, or any of the other themes shown in this movie...
Rating:
Summary: Tina, give her that ax!
Review: Mommie Dearest is simply one of the most touching (and by touching I mean rolling-on-the-floor hilarious) movies to come out since...ever. Yeah, yeah, you'll hear how Faye Dunaway's emotionally charged performance is the best of her career. But what really makes this movie is how Dunaway's emtionally charged performance comes off as Lucille Ball-style hilarity. In case you don't know Joan Crawford (the evil "Mommie Actress"), I'll introduce you. An Oscar-winning actress, friend to the fans, and daily child abuser. After adopting two kids to soften her image, she realizes no one loves her. She beats them with hangers, her hands, Comet bathroom cleaner--bascially anything she can get her grubby little paws on. She kicks the rose garden into pieces, chops down the trees (after speaking the infamous "Tina, get me the ax!" line), and spanks her kids until they're blue in the face. Let me put it this way: she was no model parent. After living through a life of abuse and terrible conditions, her daughter returns to a still evil mother who doesn't recognize her. "I AM NOT ONE OF YOUR FANS!!!" screams Christina Crawford, just before Joan tackles her and wraps her hands tightly around her neck. They say friendships last forever, so I guess *itchy mothers do too. Believe me, this is no hate review of "Mommie Dearest." It's so hilarious that you'll forget its actually true...and sad. It's completely worth all of your time and money, just for the uproarious laughter it will put you into. Whatever you do (you may force your children to clean the bathroom at 2 AM, you may strike them with hangers, whatever floats your boat) just do NOT pass this comedy (oh, sorry: DRAMA) classic up.
Rating: 
Summary: "Say it like you mean it!"
Review: Faye Dunaway portrays Joan Crawford realistically and vividly in this emotionally-charged "true" story. She is excellent because she captures the desperation and vulnerability of the Movie Queen as well as her neuroses and ruthlessness. At stages, her mannerisms, voice and look are uncannily like Crawfords. I remember a review of a Joan Collins film called "The Bitch" in which a reviewer said "Only for campaholics who delight in the misfortunes of aging actresses." Doubtlessly, this film will attract this element, but lets hope viewers also see Crawfords pain as well as her toughness. She fought her way from scrubber to star. Is it any wonder that in her lower ebbs, she scrubbed floors to metaphorically keep everything perfect? One can empathise with Christina's bewilderment at her mothers outbursts, but we also see Crawfords difficulties. Some scenes are campy and superficial, but interest never wanes. Some scenes (especially near the end) are heartbreaking and equal Joan Crawfords oscar winning performance in "Mildred Pierce" in terms of emotional pathos.
Rating:
Summary: Shocking and Chilling.
Review: There has not ever been an biographical movie ever done this way. It shows the darkside of the actress Joan Crawford. The acting is okay, Faye Dunaway acts really well. The movie is a little drawn out, but it is still very interesting to watch.
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