Sometimes it seems too easy to be snarky, and not every target is worth the effort; but in the hands of a good practitioner, and in an important cause, it is efficient and informative: Anthony Lane on Diane English's “The Women”:

The wordplay is matched by the fatigue that pervades both the musical and the visual vocabularies: in the opening credits, an over-the-river travelling shot of the Manhattan skyline gives way to a closeup of heels and toned calves, hymned by a voice singing “I’m Feeling Beautiful.” At the other end of the story, I just about clung on, consoled by the thought that, whatever else, Diane English had at least found the decency not to stoop to a birthing scene. Then it was time for the birthing scene.

Labels: Cinema