On paper the conceit of this film is fascinating. Have the same character/person at different stages of their life interact with their future/past self and give context and comment on the important moments of their life.
In practice this film is not the best example of that conceit. The scenes where the 4 Glorias are on the never-ending bus journey together are few and far between and feel like very brief, surreal interludes in an otherwise fairly basic biopic. Either commit to the surrealism and have the fantastical bus journey BE the film as they discuss each important moment in Gloria Steinem's life or dispense with it entirely and just do a by-the-numbers biopic. I think Julie Taymor tried to do both and ended up falling between too many houses.
I also think the film is a little too directly connected to the original memoir that Steinem wrote. The scene where Julianne Moore is giving a reading from the book goes way too far in my opinion. It tips into the realm of hagiography. Don't get me wrong Gloria Steinem is an awesome person and her story should be told, but there's far too much hero worship here. Having said that I loved the real Gloria Steinem showing up at the end.
Ultimately this comes across as a standard, basic biopic with surreal interludes that are too infrequent and don't really fit the tone of the film at large. Well acted and a story worth telling, but only an average feature film.
In practice this film is not the best example of that conceit. The scenes where the 4 Glorias are on the never-ending bus journey together are few and far between and feel like very brief, surreal interludes in an otherwise fairly basic biopic. Either commit to the surrealism and have the fantastical bus journey BE the film as they discuss each important moment in Gloria Steinem's life or dispense with it entirely and just do a by-the-numbers biopic. I think Julie Taymor tried to do both and ended up falling between too many houses.
I also think the film is a little too directly connected to the original memoir that Steinem wrote. The scene where Julianne Moore is giving a reading from the book goes way too far in my opinion. It tips into the realm of hagiography. Don't get me wrong Gloria Steinem is an awesome person and her story should be told, but there's far too much hero worship here. Having said that I loved the real Gloria Steinem showing up at the end.
Ultimately this comes across as a standard, basic biopic with surreal interludes that are too infrequent and don't really fit the tone of the film at large. Well acted and a story worth telling, but only an average feature film.