Saturday, November 6, 2010

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

Real-life couples usually get cast to play lovers in movies (ie, Humphrey  Bogart and Lauren Bacall). So what happens when a couple who's very much in love have to go at each other's throats? You get Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?.

George (Richard Burton) and Martha (Elizabeth Taylor) are an aging couple who have spent their marriage drinking and fighting. They invite young couple Nick (George Segal) and Honey (Sandy Dennis) for drinks, but Nick and Honey will see George and Martha's crumbling marriage.

An adaptation of an acclaimed play? Who else but a veteran of directing Broadway to make it? The performances from Burton, Taylor, Segal and Dennis are top notch. George and Martha are a match made in hell. I'm not sure what they saw in each other when they first met, but there's a good chance that they were drunk. Honestly, this is one of the few directorial debuts that doesn't get overlooked by the director's later movies. In fact, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? is Nichols' most famous movie, which I definitely have to agree on.

My Rating: *****

2 comments:

  1. I've seen a few Mike Nichols' films. I think this was his second-best, after The Graduate ofcourse. I do love George and Martha, but I think the star of the show is Honey...

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  2. Yes, second best after The Graduate for me but still exceptional. Everyone is at the top of the game, and considering the talent - that's no small praise.

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