Movie Reviews - Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool

Director: Paul McGuigan
Genre: Drama
Runtime: 105 minutes
Year: 2017
Starring: Jamie Bell, Annette Bening, Julie Walter, Stephen Graham

Description: A romance sparks between a young actor (Jamie Bell) and a Hollywood leading lady (Annette Bening).

Review: For a second, Gloria Grahame was one of the familiar faces in Hollywood. Especially in film noirs her talented really showed. She starred opposite of Humphrey Bogart in “In a Lonely Place” and she shined in “The Big Heat”. She even won an Acadmey Award for “The Bad and the Beautiful”. And still Grahame was forgotten. I think, many people won’t even remember her by hearing her name. “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool” is about Gloria’s life, years after she turned her back to Hollywood.
This part of her life, we see through the eyes of Peter Turner. He was a young actor, who happened to rent a room in the same building as Gloria, when she took on a role in a theater in England. She is many years older then Peter, but the two hit it off right away. The start a passionate relationship, Peter’s family love her and he even moves in with her in America.
The two break it off, which we see in flashbacks. But it’s Peter she calls, when Gloria is back in Liverpool again. She is sick and Peter and his family take her in.
Annette Being didn’t try to look like Gloria, but she does have some characteristics in common with her. Especially the voice. Jamie Bell was also perfectly cast for his role. And Julie Walters’ role is beautiful.
The film feels like a play. It’s only set in a few locations and the way they show us flashbacks is for example like walking through a door right into the flashback situation. Really clever. I can understand that this might get a bit dull for people. But the film is so interesting because Gloria is such a mystery. If you know the real Gloria Grahame, you would know that she was ‘banished’ from Hollywood because of some scandals in her private life. They hardly bring this up in the movie. I think that was a good choice. This way you can completely focus on Gloria and Peter’s story.
It’s mostly an acting movie with good cinematography. But I really liked “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool”.

Rating: 4 / 5