Mommie Dearest (1981)

At the height of her career, unmarried film star Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) feels unfulfilled without children so she adopts a baby girl and later a boy. What she didn't count on was a daughter with a will as strong as her own. Based on the autobiography by Christina Crawford and directed by Frank Perry (DIARY OF A MAD HOUSEWIFE). With four credited screenwriters (too many cooks?), the movie has a haphazard disorganization about it and Frank Perry's sledge hammer direction only accents the problematic screenplay. While the film has become a "camp" favorite among certain types, like rape jokes I've never found child abuse amusing. So why bother with this movie? A genuinely magnificent performance by Dunaway. The film's ads declared Faye Dunaway IS Joan Crawford and for once, they didn't exaggerate. Dunaway seems possessed by Crawford and gives an operatic out of control performance that takes no prisoners. Her performance almost turns the film into a Joan Crawford movie except there's a real actress at the center, not a posing movie star. Dunaway's performance was and remains controversial (she lost the New York Film Critics best actress award by just a few votes to Glenda Jackson) but it's thrilling to see an actress take the gloves off and soar. With Diana Scarwid, Steve Forrest, Howard Da Silva, Rutanya Alda, Jocelyn Brando, Xander Berkeley and as young Christina, Mara Hobel who gives an unsettling performance perfectly balancing the defiant will and pure terror.