I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

It is encouraging that the film ends so strongly.Otherwise, it wouldn't have been a particularly memorable film

It's incredible that neither Jessica Lange nor Kim Stanley received the Oscar they were nominated for in this gripping film of a true story of a Hollywood actress who didn't make it because of her own over-brilliant personality, getting into conflict with everyone, having problems with adjusting to a society she couldn't agree with from the beginning; and although the film differs slightly from the true story, at large it sticks to the absolute truth at least psychologically. Jessica Lange is just formidable, and this must be her best performance. The interesting thing is that she actually very much looks like Frances Farmer, she was in reality just as beautiful as Jessica Lange if not even more, and her personality in Jessica Lange's impersonation couldn't be more convincing. Her mother Kim Stanley accomplishes a similar feat, and all the other actors tune well in to make this film as perfect a documentary biography as could be accomplished. To this comes the softening and almost seducing music of John Barry gilding the hard lines of the picture and making it more digestible, while my only objection is against the lobotomy ingredient, which is the one departure from reality. Although the terrible nightmare scenes from the asylum had to be included, since they were true, the exaggeration of the lobotomy was unnecessary. Perhaps it was just put there to end the traumatic hospital sequences.Frances Farmer became a legend, and by this film the legend was given an extra injection of continued eternity, and it's a uniquely fascinating portrait of an over-talented actress at odds with a reality, especially Hollywood at that time, that in no way was humanly acceptable.

This film is a stand out performance by Jessica Lange, who at this point in time appears in some films as the neurotic mother(as in "Prozac nation"), which covers the issue of clinical depression in a rather convoluted manner.This film details actress Frances Farmer's life, early success, stage and screen, her contempt for Hollywood superficiality and the eventual downward spiral f her career, as well as her sanity.The scenes with esteemed NY playwright Clifford Odets are interesting, well portrayed by Jeffrey DeMunn. Lange looks lovely, fragile yet tough, a defiant and independent spirit, especially considering this was the era of 1930's and 1940's.Her mother is well-portrayed by the rather schizoid Kim Stanley ("Séance for Wet Afternoon'). Ms. Stanley portrays a narcissistic, controlling and even malevolent force in Frances' life.When Frances tires of Hollywood facade and "glamour", she states to her mother she just wants to live her own life, quietly, and rejects Hollywood. This seemed to be the mechanism which enraged her mother, and eventually causes her to have Frances committed to the Western Asylum in Washington State.Many books have been written (although the supposed lobotomy issue has been debunked), but clearly Frances underwent insulin and other barbaric treatments while committed to the barbaric asylum. Lange is very believable here, disheveled, angry, but also edgy and raw. And not necessarily "in the wrong" despite American society and it treatment of emotionally disturbed inmates at the time.In a disturbing scene with psychiatrist, "Dr. Symington" it is evident at the time that railroading patients into involuntary commitment was all too commonplace. Frances may have been a common bipolar patient who would have responded to talk therapy, but this was never given a chance. Indeed, she was never given a chance.The book "Will There Really be a Morning?" is also a good reference for those interested in delving into Frances Farmer's biography. While some have mentioned this film doesn't accurately portray the story, I think overall the audience gets a clear sense of the despair, longing and passion which were interwoven in Miss Farmer's life, and Jessica Lange does an excellent portrayal here. Highly recommended. 9/10.

I hadn't really remembered who Frances Farmer was until this poignant film was made. This is a rags to riches to insanity true story of Farmer's life. Lange is supported by Kim Stanley who plays Frances' mother Lillian (both were nominated for a 1983 Academy Award!) and Sam Shepard, who plays Harry York. Frances Farmer was ahead of her time in the ways she opinionated herself and the outspokenness with which she lived her life. Treated very badly by the same studio system that made her a star and her own mother's betrayal, Frances' descent into madness and Lange's impeccable acting makes this movie a must to see and, perhaps, own.

A towering performance is depicted by Jessica Lange in her Oscar nominated performance for best actress in 1982. It could only take a Meryl Streep of "Sophie's Choice" to beat her out.Lange is absolutely shattering and mesmerizing as the actress who had everything and gave it all away courtesy of mental illness.There are some parallels here to the great "Ill Cry Tomorrow" of 1955. Both Lillian Roth and Jessica Lange had domineering mothers who ruined their respective lives. Both women never were suited nor wanted the life of the Hollywood jet-set.Lange does an outstanding job as a non-conformist whose tragic life can never be forgotten.The picture also depicts a very sad state of mental health in this country during the 1930s and 1940s. The institutions themselves were nothing more than factories turning out unsatisfactory human products.Kim Stanley merited her supporting nomination as Farmer's over-possessive mother. Ironically, Lange beat her out for the supporting award that same year for "Tootsie."Sam Shepherd is equally effective as the love of her life during all her trials and tribulations. Non-conformist Clifford Odets really comes off as a traitor to non-conformity.