Good Morning Miss Dove (On TCM this afternoon) was an unexpected treat. Watching it, I overdosed on more sentimentality than you could shake a stick at.! The film tells the emotional story of a beloved schoolteacher who reflects back on her life and former students when she is hospitalized; the bit where where ex pupils come to the hospital to give blood to save their teacher makes you want to jam your head in a metal bucket! But.... Jennifer Jones, a somewhat aloof character actress anyhow, seemed just right for the role and I especially enjoyed the finale where the townsfolk hold a vigil outside the county hospital........very Norman Rockwell!
Infamous (2006) .... (at Theatre Clwyd tonight) was a disappointment, as it was just too like the other more successful biopic ; last year's Capote (2005) . The latter was a more dramatic portrayal of the waspish writer during his "In Cold Blood" period, whereas this version is played more for laughs at the expense of the brittle Capote. In Capote , Philip Seymour Hoffman made the character more real in so much we believed his destructive tendencies with friends and lovers whereas Toby Jones' portrayal, although clever, is weighted heavily at humour. Perhaps the truth lies somewhere between the two?
The glittery supporting cast detracted the audience from the drama also and bugger knows why Gwyneth Paltrow turned up as nightclub singer Kitty, a right waste of time.
Sandra Bullock makes for a quieter and more reflective and somewhat tortured Harper Lee and English actress Juliet Stevenson has the best line in the film when she describes Capote as "sounding like a Brussels sprout ,if a Brussels sprout could talk". I need to think about this film a little more I think at times like these I miss discussing films with Nige and John.
