Just what I expected

Blistering performances.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

One thing you can say about this film is that the lead cast do not let you down. There are really only two actors here, Sarandon and Fiennes and they are the only things that stop this film being dreadful. She is quite believable as a rich, bad tempered cosseted poorly educated boor. She radiates everything that is wrong about unearned income. She cares for nothing and nobody but herself and her attempts at 'spiritual development' are so nauseating that it's tempting to fast-forward. Bernard seems such an unperson, a person of such low self-esteem that he only lives through his pathetic arse-kissing of Doris. There really was no reason to make a film about two such dull people. On the plus side though, there is no glossing over the shallowness of their lives, and that's something Hollywood rarely does convincingly.

This is a HBO film, made exclusively for the small screen, TV films usually cover historical and biographic productions, this one is semi-biographic, the film encircles around the story between the tobacco billionairess Doris Duke and her gay butler Bernard Lafferty. Director Bob Balaban is also a well-known actor, so it seems that he knows proficiently how to grapple the camera in front of his actors. The film largely depends on two leads' performances, as the conflict and dramatic friction are subtle and the emotional pulse is limitedly detectable. However the theatrical magic within is a pleasure to watch, Sarandon has not been so intensely brilliant for a rather long time and Fiennes is superb as always to release an energetic power which could dilute Sarandon's sharp embodiment of her character's misery and attractiveness. During the progress of watching this film, I can easily perceive the glamor from the exquisite dialogues which are as if a duel between these two protagonists from different hierarchy, how their relationship evolves, how they realize that they are inseparable from a weird but sensible love. When love transcends race, age, class or even sexual orientation, there is always lots of humanity can intrigue us to dwell on in an endlessly labyrinthian way.

This is a fantastic movie. I don't know thing one about the life and death of Doris Duke, and as it says in the beginning credits: "Some of this film is based on facts...Some of it isn't." What writer Hugh Costello, director Bob Balaban, actors Susan Sarandon and Ralph Fiennes have come up with here is sheer brilliance. Two troubled people who come together, almost accidentally, only to find that each of their unique psychological troubles meshes extremely well with the other's. Yes, it's a story about "enabling" and "codependence", but it's also a story of the power of friendship and loyalty (no matter how sadly unhealthy it might be for both parties involved). I can't say enough good things about the performances of both Sarandon & Fiennes, not to mention all the other actors, and the director, cinematographer, etc... But I must say, the writing is paritcularly effective. The story of these two people's intertwining lives comes off as so true, so kind-of tragic, and so compelling, that I will never forget this film. Bravo!!!

Ralph Fiennes is always fun to watch. He is delicious in this not very good movie, playing an insecure naif awash in the wake of a self-destructive pragmatist. His face and especially his voice evoke pathos of the most intimate sort. Sadly the movie is a waste of his talents and my time.Bob Balaban has pretty good taste; it was bred into him. He's of that class of New York intellectuals, whether they come from New York or not (he doesn't) who always seem to say and do the appropriate thing. There's nothing really wrong with his direction here, but the script's eventless enough to give him nothing really very important to do as a director, except not embarrass himself. He doesn't. But he doesn't really distinguish himself either.Susan Sarandon, besides being altogether too attractive and healthy-looking to play this part convincingly, belongs to a class of actresses of a certain age, all of whom are very good, none of whom I can watch without thinking, "Well, she's not Meryl Streep, is she?" It's too bad, because she never does anything wrong, and it's certainly not her fault she's not Meryl Streep. I wonder if Meryl loses any sleep over being about 35% better than everybody else.