✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

You have reached the limit of free articles.


To enjoy unlimited access to Culture Whisper sign up for FREE.
Find out more about Culture Whisper


Sign up by Email or Facebook.

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy

Each week, we sent newsletters and communication featuring articles, our latest tickets invitations, and exclusive offers.

Occasional information about discounts, special offers and promotions.


OR
LOG IN

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

Thanks for signing up to Culture Whisper.
Please check your inbox for a confirmation email and click the link to verify your account.



EXPLORE CULTURE WHISPER
✕ ✕
Turning tips into memories
Login
Signup

Please fix the following input errors:

  • dummy
Forgot your username or password?
Don't have an account? Sign Up

OR
  • LOG IN WITH FACEBOOK

If you click «Log in with Facebook» and are not a Culture Whisper user, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and to our Privacy Policy, which includes our Cookie Use

Turning tips into memories

Get started Login
  • Home
  • Going Out
    • Things to do
    • Food & Drink
    • Theatre
    • Visual Arts
    • Cinema
    • Kids
    • Festival
    • Gigs
    • Dance
    • Classical Music
    • Opera
    • Immersive
    • Talks
  • Staying In
    • TV
    • Books
    • Cook
    • Podcast
    • Design
    • Netflix
  • Life & Style
    • Beauty
    • Fashion
    • Gifting
    • Wellbeing
    • Lifestyle
    • Shopping
    • Jewellery
  • Explore
  • Kids
  • Benefits
  • Membership
  • Get Started
  • Membership
  • Benefits
Get the Best of London Life, Culture and Style
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
Cinema

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool film review ★★★★★

16 Nov 17 – 17 Nov 22, TIMES VARY

Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool traces fading Hollywood darling Gloria Grahame’s real-life relationship with a humble Liverpudlian – but the movie is outshone by its own film stars

By Daniel J Lewis on 26/10/2017

Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool
Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool film review 3 Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool film review Daniel Lewis
What is it about Annette Bening’s dancing that always manages to steal the show?


She first boogied to Black Flag and Talking Heads with Billy Crudup in 70s nostalgia flick 20th Century Women. Here, she grooves to the soundtrack to Saturday Night Fever opposite Jamie Bell — who gives John Travolta a run for his money.



This dancing scene comes early in the film and is the first encounter between the film’s star-crossed lovers — the chronically ill Gloria Grahame who enjoyed some fame during Hollywood’s Golden Age and her last romantic interest, Peter Turner, a humble actor from Liverpool whose memoir the film is based on.


We are charmed by the couple-to-be as they flirt, quip and bond over their love of theatre. Unfortunately, there are too many frivolous moments like this which are too content to play on the surface.


We do get to meet the parents who help to fill in some of the blanks. Peter’s parents, played by the always bullet-proof Julie Walters and a slightly more workaday Kenneth Cranham, are endearing as they fuss over Grahame when she comes to their house to rest up from her illness; the cancer that she refused to get treatment for and would eventually lose her life to.


Grahame’s own charismatic mother (Vanessa Redgrave, of course) and vitriolic sister make a brief appearance when the couple whisk themselves off to her caravan home in California.


But ultimately, these family members end up confirming what we already know: Grahame is a capricious film star and that Peter is a regular young man from Liverpool. Peter’s disclosure of his romantic history halfway through is a desperate attempt to build character interest that falls flat.



And yet, there are moments that match that early dancing scene where Bening and Bell get to show off their great chemistry and director Paul McGuigan, best known crime thriller Lucky Number Slevin, gets to display his tender side.


An intimate conversation in a New York restaurant where Grahame betrays her worry about her looks and a touching couple of minutes when the lovers act out a scene from Romeo and Juliet (which Grahame never got the chance to play on stage) stand out as little gems in what is otherwise a stylish but mixed bag of a film.


Gloria Grahame’s career sadly withered in the shadow of the inimitable Marilyn Monroe. It looks like their respective biopics will suffer the same fate. Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool can’t quite live up to the sparkle of My Week with Marilyn. Then again, the bar was set pretty high and not everyone’s star can burn so brightly.

by Daniel J Lewis

What Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool film review
Where Various Locations | MAP
When 16 Nov 17 – 17 Nov 22, TIMES VARY
Price £ determined by cinema
Website Click here for more information



Most popular

Things to do in London this weekend: 5 - 7 March
Things to do in London this weekend: 5 - 7 March
Bryan Cranston in Your Honor, Sky Atlantic (Photo: Sky/Showtime)
Your Honor, Sky Atlantic review
Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze in Dirty Dancing (Photo: Lionsgate/Sky)
New to Netflix UK: March 2021

Editor's Picks

Robert Pattinson stars in Good Time
Best films out in November
The best films about artists' lives
The best films about artists' lives
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).

Cinema

Romance

Drama

You might like

  • Mudbound film

    Mudbound film review ★★★★★

  • The Florida Project film review [STAR:4]

    The Florida Project film review ★★★★★

  • Breathe film review

    Breathe film review ★★★★★

  • Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami film review

    Grace Jones: Bloodlight and Bami film review ★★★★★

  • Thor: Ragnarok movie - Cate Blanchett

    Thor: Ragnarok film review ★★★★★

  • The literal Death of Stalin

    The Death of Stalin film review ★★★★★



  • The Culture Whisper team
  • What is Culture Whisper membership
  • Corporate membership
  • Give a gift membership
  • Retrieve a gift membership
  • Contact us
  • Press
  • FAQ
  • Privacy
  • Terms and conditions
  • Cookies
  • Discover
  • Venues
  • Restaurants
  • Stations
  • Boroughs
Sign up to CW’s newsletter
By entering my email I agree to the CultureWhisper Privacy Policy (we won`t share data & you can unsubscribe anytime).
×