Rating: 
Summary: At Last! Rejoice!
Review: A glorious train-wreck of a movie unforgettable for so many things, most notably Faye Dunaway's fearless performance. Thank heavens it's finally out on DVD. It has to be one of the most enjoyable movies ever made; they could teach college courses on it. Every time I drive down Wilshire Blvd. past the neglected shell of Perino's Restaurant, I can't help but cry out, "Dammit! Perino's is MY PLACE!"
Rating: 
Summary: Camp galore
Review: What was, I'm sure, meant to be regarded as a serious film is considered, among myself and my friends, as one of the funniest films ever made. Who, in their right mind, can consider this movie as anything but high camp? Every character is laughable, even in their pathetic and victimized guise, they inspire a chuckle. Notice how Faye Dunaway goes cross-eyed as she walks away after pummeling Christina with the powder cleanser container and telling her "you figure out." "Barbara, please! Please, Barbara!" Joan shouts at Barbara Bennett right before she proceeds to clutch at her clothing in a fury ignited by Christina's defiance. "Tina, bring me the ax!" Joan yells as she's kneeling in an evening gown in the rose garden and cutting down everything in sight, her face scratched up, obviously by thorns. Christopher Crawford is but a mere footnote. Why wasn't he ever the recipient any of his adoptive mother's vitriol? How much truth there is to story, no one will ever really know, but as a bio-pic, it leaves a great deal to be desired, hence it's status as a comedy/camp/cult classic. I love Faye Dunaway, but what were she and Frank Perry thinking with that over the top characterization of Joan Crawford? Neither Joan nor Faye can be taken seriously for one second; each seems to be a caricature of the other. The look of the movie is stylish and, I'm sure, accurate, but everything else reeks of melodrama. Nevertheless, a terrific, fun movie that requires several viewings to be truly appreciated. I, for one, never get tired of seeing it, each time finding something new and hilarious. One final comment, notice how in Joan's choking rage she knocks out poor Carole Ann, not unlike some demented cartoon character. Something like The Three Stooges, meets Edith Head, meets Bonanza, meets George Cukor, meets Divine. Positively hilarious. Each line, inflection, gesture is memorable and a guilty pleasure. Like you know you shouldn't be laughing and enjoying the concept of abuse but you genuinely can't help it. Diane Scarwid is almost somnambular as the adult Christina, Mara Hobel the effective, albeit irritating, young incarnation that kind of makes you want to cheer for Joan.
Rating:
Summary: CHRISTINA! CLEAN UP THIS MESS!!!
Review: You can not walk away from this movie without remembering at least one catch phrase. It's a staple viewing for all...men since Faye Dunaway is just FABULOUS as the one and only Joan Crawford. And it's simply the greatest comedy of all time believe it or not. I laugh uncontrollably when Christina's school mate catches her with an alleged boyfriend, only to tell Christina "I am going to TELL, oh dear God I am going TO TELL!!" This film is classic and it's about time Paramount pays it's respects by releasing "Mommie Dearest" on DVD! If you haven't seen it, you're in for a wild and hilarious ride through the golden age of Hollywood.
Rating:
Summary: Thank You Paramount - It's About Time!
Review: I see that Paramount is finally releasing the greatest campy movie of all time, "Mommie Dearest" We can finally see the "wire hanger" scene in widscreen, and a sharp, crytral clear picture. NO WIRE HANGERS, EVER!
Rating:
Summary: Where's the DVD?
Review: Only one thing to say about "Mommy Dearest"....Superb. This is an excellent film to watch anytime. I've watched it so often, I know all the lines in order...even inflection. But the sad part is that it doesn't exist on DVD. If anyone knows anything about when or if it will ever be released on disc....please write someone and complain about it or let me know who I can write to. Enjoy the film, even though it's only on tape.
Rating:
Summary: Eerie fascinating depiction
Review: I am a big fan of the book "Mommie Dearest" which I read when I was fourteen and have seen the film numerous times. It is alternately humourous, moving, hilarious, disheartening, sad, depressing, hilarious again, and so on.Like Joan Crawford's alleged manic depressiveness, this film is certainly a mixed bag. Faye Dunaway really gives a brilliant over the top performance of the dynamic driven actress, and Diana Scarwid is fascinating in her portrayal of Christina. I really like the film because it seems truthful in its depiction of a flawed mentally ill human being. Much as you try to hate Joan, ultimately you pity her. This is a well known camp classic however, and deservedly so, there are so many over the top unintentionally amusing sequences, like when Joan and Christina race each other across the pool. We don't really know if Joan was the monstrous mother this film purports her as, but if she was, the film does manage to humanize her and causes us to feel a tinge of sympathy.
Rating:
Summary: Mommie Dearest is Dearest
Review: There are few events that people will forget. Where were you when you first heard Kennedy was shot? Where were you when man landed on the moon? And where were you when you first heard the words "No more wire hangers ever?" I have seen Mommie Dearest dozens of times and just got it through the mail the other day. Although I have the video now, I breathlessly await the DVD. I hope that the chapters are sorted by quotes, because there are no many that come to mind when I think of this movie, the wire hangers quote chief among them. I enjoy this movie with a guilty pleasure delight. I slap myself at laughing at the Joan on Christina choking incident, but it had to have been played for laughs. I remember being horrified by the scene when I was younger, but now my fears seem as exaggerated as Faye's eyebrows. That's one of the best scenes of overacting I've ever seen. And that includes anything Billy Zane did in Titanic. For some reason, little Chirstina's cursing of "Jesus Christ!" is ommitted in the broadcast cable version on the movie. And so is the grown-up Tina's version after Joan's will is read. Both of those exclamations are restored in the video version. Scenes of child abuse passed the censors, but as for the taking of God's name in vain---well, that's another story.
Rating: 
Summary: This movie offended me!
Review: It's true. When I was very young, the part I saw was where Joan beat Christine with a wire hanger. Years later, I saw Joan make fun of Christine when she beat her at racing at the pool. After her adopted daughter had a fit, Joan threw her in a porthouse. When Christine was grown, I was so disheartened when Joan threw her down and choked her. I think the novel Christine wrote would have been enough to shock everyone. Joan was ridiculous to her adopted children! But I never saw where she allowed them to have only one toy for birthday or Christmas. And Joan had no business taking her dolls away just because she called them selfish. The good point was at the end, where Christine still loved Joan and forgave her for her harsh and stupid brutality and grieved while Joan lay in her coffin. The director should not have had this movie! "Mommie Dearest" is a bit ironic and this film should have never at all existed!
Rating:
Summary: A difficult film to watch
Review: I first saw this film when I was a first year Uni. student and found it then (as I stilldo) a brilliant movie. Faye Dunaway's performance as the horrific Jekyll and Hyde personality of Joan Crawford is so realistic that it gives one nightmares.However, I now find this film very difficult to watch being the mother of a six year old and never forgetting the fact that being a parent ia a privelege and a gift of nature. To abuse this is a crime that cannot be measured. A must see film for everyone to remind one that child abuse is not restricted to any class type. Brilliant perfomances by Faye Dunaway and the various actresses who play her daughter at different stages. After watching this movie and then coming across a movie starring Joan Crawford , there is a sadness in my heart for the little girl who called her "momie dearest"
Rating:
Summary: Shocking and heartbreaking
Review: "Mommie Dearest" is a genuine stunner. I was overwhelmed by the film on first viewing. This dramatic, intensely horrifying biographical portrait of Joan Crawford's maternity is enough to make even the most die-hard Crawford fan cringe. Faye Dunaway (frankly what I believe to have been a performance of Oscar caliber) portrays Crawford. Dunaway has Crawford down to the last inch. In mannerisms, looks, even voice, she IS Joan Crawford. Dunaway's performance lends a very creepy sense of voyeurism to the film because the viewer actually forgets that this is a performance. At any rate, the story begins circa 1939, when Crawford was one of Hollywood's reigning glamour queens. She adopts two babies as a single mother. Flash forward five years. Crawford is sweet to her daughter Christina in front of the cameras. When the bulbs aren't flashing, Crawford is cruel to her daughter (Mara Hobel; I don't know how she endured making this film)... forcing her to give up birthday gifts "...for the less fortunate children...", locking her daughter in a poolhouse for backtalking, and chopping off Christina's hair in one particularly gruesome scene when the girl is caught staring at herself in a mirror. Other cruelties include forcing the child to eat raw meat and sending the girl to boarding school for mixing a drink for one of Crwaford's boyfriends. In later years, Crawford actually wrestles her daughter to the floor and chokes her mercilessly. It is heartbreaking because in every instance Christina is trying to be a good girl for "Mommie Dearest". Crawford's outlandish behavior manages to scare the blazes out of her children. Just after winning the Oscar, Crawford beats the devil out of Christina when she discovers wire hangers in the girl's closet (a symbol of poverty). They are bizarre and never completely understandable, these turns of events. An older Christina (Diana Scarwid, just great) still finds it hard to come to terms with her mother's erratic behavior after death, when her mother left a cruel statement in her will excluding her children as beneficiaries. This is a story that needs to be told, but it is still nerve-wracking when told. I'm proud of Christina Crawford for having the courage to tell this story. I hope it may even help some people who have suffered this kind of abuse.
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