Most of the audience associate Bette Midler with light-hearted comedies, but the most important role of her acting career – the one that actually started it and was later awarded with Golden Globe – belonged to quite different genre, at was actually inspired by one of the most tragic chapters of history of American popular music. That film was Rose, 1979 musical quasi-biopic directed by Mark Rydell.
The plot is set in 1969 and Midler plays Mary Rose Foster, rock singer whose talent made her famous and popular and gave her a nickname “The Rose”. Despite enjoying success on stage and immense popularity, and despite her diva-like antics behind the scenes, deep inside she is an insecure woman who often escapes from her traumas by indulging in alcohol and drugs. All of that is of little concern to her ruthless and greedy manager Rudge Campbell (played by Alan Bates) who insists on her performing during endless and increasingly demanding concert tours. As an act of rebellion, Rose starts whirlwind romance with Huston Dyer (played by Frederic Forrest), kind-hearted limousine driver who wants her to get the better, but ultimately can’t rescue Rose from her personal demons, hanger-ons who enable her self-destructive lifestyle and Rusty’s cruel manipulations. All that would lead to predictably tragic result during the great concert in Rose’s home town of Jacksonville, Florida, where she came in order to flaunt her success and stardom to people who had talked her down in her early years.
The Rose was originally supposed to be a regular biopic dedicated to the life and times of Janis Joplin (1943 - 1970), legendary blues rock singer whose career and life were tragically ended with heroin overdose. Joplin family’s refusal to participate in the project allowed screenwriters Bo Goldman and Bill Kerby to replace her with fictional career and “spice up” some of the details from her life. Those interventions made the film more Hollywood-like and at times too melodramatic, but very disciplined direction by Mark Rydell nevertheless makes The Rose quite watchable. ¸What makes this memorable is, however, intense performance by Bette Midler in what would arguably become the best role of her career. She displays great talent and enormous energy in the scenes in which she performs some of the films musical number, including the title song which became one of the greatest pop hits of its time. She is also quite energetic in her role of larger-than-life woman whose impulsiveness and histrionics often hide deep insecurities that would ultimately lead to spectacularly tragic end. Midler is aided by a talented and diverse cast, with Forrest, until that time mostly known as character actor, apparently liking of his character as something close to romantic lead. The Rose has some problems with pacing and viewers who aren’t fans of Midler might be turned off by coarseness of her character, as well as bleakness and tragic nature of the story. Those viewers who like good music and display of great talents should give The Rose a chance.
RATING: 6/10 (++)
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