It's a wow of a film! Elaine Stritch is eighty-seven and a superb singer.
She's been on Broadway and entertainment venues for sixty years.
That's SIXTY YEARS! Can you imagine how tough, savvy and driven you have to be to last that long? Well, when you see this film, you'll understand why she's lasted that long.
The director, Chiemi Karasawa, built a relationship with Elaine and during those months was able to infuse her documentary agenda with practically every moment of Elaine Stritch's being.
I think the "Shoot Me" part of the title simply permits the director to shoot pictures of her throughout her day.
(We're talking about some fairly intimate shots.
) Perhaps the main character in Elaine's Stritch's current life Is Rob Bowman, her accompanist, who performs on the keyboard while she sings favorite Sondheim songs.
Rob plays her soul mate, too, when she's off the stage and frightened with forgetting song lines-- with going through diabetic episodes that have put her in the hospital-- and with feeling show biz pressure.
It looks like he's become the son she never had, and the husband who died years past.
Indomitable strength that mocks the ravages of "older" age- is what Elaine shows her audience; and they love her all the more for showing she's vulnerable.
How can you not love this human being who is doing what most of us would like to do in "older" age? So many young folks have never heard of her, and this "doc" offers them a look at a role model from a distant era.
Celebrities (like fans themselves) appear to share their wonderment at what makes this special lady endure-AlecBaldwin, Tina Fey, Nathan Lane, and the late James Gandolfini.
Besides seeing many glimpses of her in star performances-- back in the days she performed on Broadway-- we get to see her in fairly current cabaret runs; and in everything Elaine's glib, spirited, spontaneous and personal.
She also lets us see her as she romps about-vacillating between waves of smughysteria and winsome hilarity.
Who can predict what's coming next? Surely, the consensus is she's one of a kind.
Show business is Elaine; she's it.
Folks pay to watch her sing and carry on, because deep down they sense she's acting out their deepest fears about growing old and being left to exist without living.
Elaine Stritch at eighty-seven shows them it does not have to be that way at all.
We can be out there with active humanity- dragging a bit- flubbing lines but exhibiting all the courage we can muster.
And as Winston Churchill once said: "It is courage that counts!" I can almost assure you you'll find this picture an EIGHT.
She's been on Broadway and entertainment venues for sixty years.
That's SIXTY YEARS! Can you imagine how tough, savvy and driven you have to be to last that long? Well, when you see this film, you'll understand why she's lasted that long.
The director, Chiemi Karasawa, built a relationship with Elaine and during those months was able to infuse her documentary agenda with practically every moment of Elaine Stritch's being.
I think the "Shoot Me" part of the title simply permits the director to shoot pictures of her throughout her day.
(We're talking about some fairly intimate shots.
) Perhaps the main character in Elaine's Stritch's current life Is Rob Bowman, her accompanist, who performs on the keyboard while she sings favorite Sondheim songs.
Rob plays her soul mate, too, when she's off the stage and frightened with forgetting song lines-- with going through diabetic episodes that have put her in the hospital-- and with feeling show biz pressure.
It looks like he's become the son she never had, and the husband who died years past.
Indomitable strength that mocks the ravages of "older" age- is what Elaine shows her audience; and they love her all the more for showing she's vulnerable.
How can you not love this human being who is doing what most of us would like to do in "older" age? So many young folks have never heard of her, and this "doc" offers them a look at a role model from a distant era.
Celebrities (like fans themselves) appear to share their wonderment at what makes this special lady endure-AlecBaldwin, Tina Fey, Nathan Lane, and the late James Gandolfini.
Besides seeing many glimpses of her in star performances-- back in the days she performed on Broadway-- we get to see her in fairly current cabaret runs; and in everything Elaine's glib, spirited, spontaneous and personal.
She also lets us see her as she romps about-vacillating between waves of smughysteria and winsome hilarity.
Who can predict what's coming next? Surely, the consensus is she's one of a kind.
Show business is Elaine; she's it.
Folks pay to watch her sing and carry on, because deep down they sense she's acting out their deepest fears about growing old and being left to exist without living.
Elaine Stritch at eighty-seven shows them it does not have to be that way at all.
We can be out there with active humanity- dragging a bit- flubbing lines but exhibiting all the courage we can muster.
And as Winston Churchill once said: "It is courage that counts!" I can almost assure you you'll find this picture an EIGHT.
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