POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1990 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Petulant, semi-autobiographical comedy written by Carrie Fisher about her relationship with her mother and the world in general. There are a couple of nice dramatic scenes but not enough to salvage this self-pitying story. Rating: high 0.
Life can be tough. It really is not very easy growing up in Hollywood with no father and a famous movie star mother who wants to run your life. Then there are all sorts of Hollywood types of people and probably none of them are looking out for your best interests or treat you as gently as you think they should. That is the sad premise of POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, with a screenplay by Carrie Fisher based on her semi-autobiographical novel of the same name.
Suzanne Vale (played by Meryl Streep) is a second-rate actress who can get roles in only third-rate films. She seems invariably to play women of action committed to some cause, but she herself is committed to nothing. She consoles herself with cocaine, which makes her even harder to work with. Then she takes the drugs a bit too far and ends up in the custody of her singer-actress mother, Doris Mann (played by Shirley MacLaine), a show business legend but just as dependent on alcohol and drugs as her daughter. This all would be pretty bleak if not for Vale's quick wit, which at times is undeniably funny, and POSTCARDS' laconic view of the nothing-is-as-it- seems world of Hollywood filmmaking. The sarcastic wordplay among two and occasionally three generations of women from one family is perhaps the only thing preventing POSTCARDS from being a complete melodrama like MOMMY DEAREST.
It is a real pity that Fisher and Debbie Reynolds did not play the characters who were essentially themselves. It would have added some authenticity to the roles. Fisher would have been more believable as an actress cast in the sort of film in which looks are the most important thing and acting talent is optional. Streep would not have been cast in such a film, regardless of her talent, because she does not have the looks that women in these films have. On the other hand, had Fisher and Reynolds starred, POSTCARDS would have been criticized for where it does fictionalize. Some courage points should be awarded to both Streep and MacLaine for being willing to appear without make-up--each in one scene. Streep without make-up looks just very plain; how MacLaine looks without make-up is something of a shock and probably is going to be remembered. The scene, however, is essential to the film and gives it the only moments where it really says something of real interest. MacLaine's make-up is symbolic of all the sham and pretense of the Hollywood system, but it cannot be stripped away without stripping away the dignity. Much of the value of the film is dependent on MacLaine being willing to play this scene.
With the exception of one or two small powerful moments, POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE is mostly a thin comedy-drama. I rate it a high 0 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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