Burton And Taylor (2013)

In 1983, after being married and divorced twice, Elizabeth Taylor (Helena Bonham Carter) and Richard Burton (Dominic West) prepare to star in a Broadway production of Noel Coward's PRIVATE LIVES. Directed by Richard Laxton, this is a surprisingly effective rendition of the (apparently) toxic relationship of the screen's legendary couple. Although based on a "true" story, I take what we see with a grain of salt. Helena Bonham Carter and Dominic West do quite well (and in Carter's case more than well) as Taylor and Burton. They don't resort to caricatures or imitations and give enough suggestion of their real life counterparts to be believable. What we get is an intimate portrait of two people who love each other but will destroy each other if they stay together. Carter gives her Taylor just the right touch of diva toughness and vulnerability. With Lenora Crichlow, William Hope and Kathryn Walker.