Annette Bening takes to the role of an aging diva of the London stage, ca. 1938, like a starving lioness to a raw steak. Her range of expression is most impressive (whether suffering the attentions of a young admirer in an elevator or rising to the challenge of an ingenue on the stage), and the role by its very nature will excuse any excess. The backstage antics of amorous alliances and betrayals do not amount to much: a platform, merely. Based on the Somerset Maugham novella, Theatre. With Jeremy Irons, Shaun Evans, Lucy Punch, Bruce Greenwood, Juliet Stevenson, Maury Chaykin, Michael Gambon; written by Ronald Harwood; directed by Istvan Szabo. (2004) — Duncan Shepherd
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