smatysia
I recall this film being a bit of a big deal when it came out, even though I never saw it until now. And I did not know that the star character was supposed to be sort of like Janis Joplin. But I was not twenty minutes in before I realized that was exactly what it was. Bette Midler certainly had the pipes to pull off this role. I understand that she made her chops as a singer before doing any acting, so it stands to reason. It was all okay. Nothing really special, nothing really wrong with it. I did wonder about the characters singing the 1976 song "The Fire Down Below" in a movie set in 1969, but maybe it is older than I thought.
mark.waltz
The similarities to Janis Joplin are obvious in Bette Midler's performance as Rose, a rock star climbing up and falling just as quickly with an over-indulgence of drugs and alcohol, fame and folly, regret and romance. She had been around for over a decade with live performance, and in her first major motion picture, moved into the second phase of her career with power and passion, becoming a legend, and deserving super-stardom of the highest order.She's a likable character, getting involved with the handsome Fredric Forrest but dooming that relationship thanks to her crazy lifestyle and a few secrets out of her past. Her tough agent (Alan Bates) tries to keep her in line, but can't even stop the independent Rose from swearing at a concert. When Bette encounters a group of drag queens in a nightclub (even one who looks like herself), she is in heaven, both as Rose and Bette, bringing a lot of herself and live interaction in performing with them. Look briefly for Doris Roberts in a silent cameo as Rose's mother.Then, in live performances, Bette shows she is as adept as performing hard rock as she is with the standards which she has influxed her career with. By the time she breaks into the title song over the credits, you have probably missed the names of the people involved because your eyes were too blurry from crying. Bette went back to live performance for a short time after this but within a few years, would be back on top when she signed with Touchstone. But it all started with "The Rose", and she proves that both as a comic and dramatic actress (who sings!) that she is one tough act to follow.
Claudine
Well first off, of COURSE this is a loose life of Janis--all you have to do is look at the crazy clothes & the booze & the screech. It doesn't have to match exactly. Don't make me have to tell you again.Second, sometimes a person just disappears into a role: that's what our Bette did on this one. There's no reason to quibble about details, anymore than there would be to go to the stadium to see the Rose in concert without bringing yer favorite choice of um *cough* recreation drug. Sex, drugs & rock n roll. Peace out, dude.I feel as though many attempts, such as Gwyneth Paltrow's recent country western voyage, sort of co-opt the experience of the road. Whereas, if you really get into it, you almost OD on the music, such as when trying to watch Neil Young's bio a few years back. OMG, so much extended riffing as to be almost a...raga! Unable to meditate, though. One cannot, or at least I cannot, let go enough to last through a 20 minute guitar solo. This does not make a good movie.As to The Rose not having a plot. It starts, it moves towards a more or less inevitable conclusion and then it ends. What the movie goer expects might be more conventional, but this is not a conventional character, ya know.
jimkis-1
First of all, everyone who saw this movie in 1979 (as I did) knew it was supposed to be about Janis Joplin. There was otherwise no point to the movie. A lot of the details were different, but The Rose's life was the same kind of train wreck as Janis Joplin's life. The Rose is a character that is impossible to admire. She had it all and blew it. She was stupid. An idiot. She took her somewhat marginal talents -- used them and abused them -- made lots of money and instead of living the good life descended into a hell of personal despair. I don't feel sorry for people like that. As for the singing, one can take only so much of Miss Middler's caterwauling; enough is enough. Her occasional appearances on TV were more than enough. Over 2 hours of her pseudo-Ethel-Mermanesque screeching is more than any human should endure. Most of the other characters in this film are unlikeable and despicable as well. There are no positive role models. Nothing but tragedy, bad sex, bad drugs and alcohol. This isn't entertainment. It's overwrought theatrical angst!It's typical overindulgence on the part of Hollywood -- in which the lives of movie stars and rock stars are made to seem soooo tragic. I feel so sorry for these spoiled and over-rich babies. Not!
AD
