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Mrs. Harris

Mrs. Harris (2006)

February. 25,2006
|
5.9
| Drama Thriller TV Movie

Based on the sensational 1980s media event, famed cardiologist Herman Tarnower meets a particularly brutal end at the hands of his jilted lover, Jean Harris.

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CrawlerChunky
2006/02/25

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

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Curapedi
2006/02/26

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

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Arianna Moses
2006/02/27

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

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Isbel
2006/02/28

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

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MarieGabrielle
2006/03/01

and anyone with an IQ over 50 will agree about the results of this.A great story deracimated by a Hollywood studio (yet again) underestimating their audience.Annette Bening, Sir Ben Kingsley, Frances Fisher, Frank Whaley, and other talented artists again prove one thesis I have: The most perfect, flawless actor cannot transcend bad writing, and inferior product.This is proof. We need a re-make(soon). Mrs. Harris was a brilliant, over-achieving woman who had an obsessive relationship with Dr. Tarnower. The relationship was complex, and she surely did not act and speak like a brainless plebeian, as she is portrayed in this film. Nor, I am sure, was Tarnower as obviously repulsive. Why is it Hollywood has screenwriters who cannot comprehend intellectuals?. Perhaps they should read the New York Times Book Review at least one time a year, before they propose to understand people who grew up with education, writing, and achievement as a cornerstone, rather than as an aside to the Rolls Royce parked in the garage. Tiresome and ridiculous. 2/10. accomplishment.

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ecalantoni
2006/03/02

Having read Jean Harris' autobiography, as well as other materials on this case, I thought Annette Bening's portrayal of Jean Harris was excellent. She was Jean Harris. Ben Kingsley's performance was also excellent--he was given little to work with beyond witty/smug remarks/situations yet to his credit he was able to exude the charm that Tarnower reportedly had, and the chemistry between the Tarnower and Harris was obvious, which made their connection believable. I was drawn to this movie as a fan of both Bening and Kinglsey, and the chemistry between these two very charismatic actors did not disappoint.What was bothersome was that the film seemed to fluctuate between serious drama and intentional camp. This made it difficult to get too involved in the story or feel empathy for the characters, which is often what people look for in a film of this genre. Even the soundtrack (which was excellent on its own) was used to this end—just when I was getting drawn into Harris' "withdrawal-induced perspective, a pop song from the 70's (was it Bread?) pulled me right out of it. But the more I thought about it (and read some viewer comments on this site) the more appropriate this approach felt. After all, the whole appeal of this story to the public was that a highly successful physician and the Headmistress of a prestigious boarding school were involved in a rather tawdry situation. Two highly educated, superior-acting, society folks who took themselves *way* too seriously were involved in affairs, drugs and cheap catfights. If the shooting scene at the beginning of the film seemed ridiculous and unbelievable, well, that was exactly how Jean Harris described the events herself. So after much consideration, I think that some aspects of the film that other viewers here have criticized were perhaps an effort by the filmmakers to underscore the absurd in this story. This makes "Mrs. Harris" not the typical murder drama/documentary and definitely worth seeing. So comes down to this: Great cast, great performances (the cameo performances as well) and it accurately portrays the complexities of the situations and the people involved in this story. It is also somewhat disturbing--you won't leave with a feeling that justice was necessarily served, or that anything was really resolved, or with any sense of empathy for the characters. But hey, that's what happens in real life.

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triple8
2006/03/03

SPOILERS THROUGH:Mrs. Harris, like many movies, has both good and bad aspects to it. I went into this thinking it would either be an extraordinary film or absolutely awful. I was wrong on both guesses. The movie is above average but not great although there are certainly some great elements to it.First the positives. Annette Benning and Ben Kingsley are cast in the main roles. Now just that fact alone will probably encourage some people, who ordinarily wouldn't be interested in this type of film, to give it a viewing. And Benning and Kingsley do not disappoint. Both of them deliver very powerful performances, particularly Benning who in my opinion is one of the top actresses working today. No matter what type of character she plays she always makes you forget she is Annette Benning. And this performance is no different.The combination of Kingsley and Benning together on screen elevates this movie considerably. Both of them are able to play their roles with conviction and believability. The movie and it's two leads, were excellent at showing the relationship from the happy beginning, the problems that came up, and the downward spiral. They were also excellent in really painting a portrait of both these people and tapping into the emotion element of who they were and the red flags that started to come up that were able to show the viewer they were on a collision coarse. Although the movie sometimes seemed made for television in a lifetime channel kind of way, those moments did not last, because Benning and Kingsley were around to prevent that and they were throughly convincing as a screen couple. They never resorted to theatrics and played their roles with a naturalness that one very rarely sees in this type of film.Something else that must be mentioned is the great use of music in the movie. Now a lot of movies have music in them but it's the rare film that can use music in an effective way. That element was done very well here.The "Color my world" scene in particular stood out to me. It's just not often that a movie is that good in knowing what musical selections work that well, and this movie did. Kudos to whoever selected the music.So with the great performances, the great music choices and the photography which was good as well, that's enough to make the movie watchable. Unfortunately it doesn't ever cross the line to being a "Great" movie and that's largely because of the editing, sequences of scenes, and flow of the picture in general.I really thought the editing was rather choppy and think the story would have been told much better without all the flashbacks. The whole thing with the supporting cast talking to the camera has been done in other movies, sometimes done well, most notably in the excellent film "To Die For" where it really worked. But it doesn't work here. We don't see nearly enough of any of the supporting cast and most frustrating was not being able to see either of the two leads interact with almost anybody except each other.I am sure I'm not the only one who would have liked to see more of their relationships with other people and we didn't really get to see that. The editing was off and there was WAY to much retelling of the night of the murder. That DID seem exploitative and after awhile it was like: how many times do they need to show us bullets raining out in the rain soaked night? That was how the movie started(to much to fast if you ask me) and those scenes took away from the film and there was to much time devoted to the same scene.The scene of Ben Kingsley in the locker room was honestly rather strange but I suppose I liked it. It sure was different. Mrs. Harris isn't what I would call a great movie but at times it did have it's moments and probably would have had even more if certain things were fixed a bit. I would call it an above average film that falls short of being great but is definitely worth a look. My vote's 8 of 10.

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gradyharp
2006/03/04

MRS. HARRIS is an HBO dud movie, and that is primarily because of the content of the story, the writing, the direction, and the waste of some fine actors' time. Based on a book by Shana Alexander adapted for the screen and directed by Phyllis Nagy, the story relates in fractured pieces between a murder scene, a trial and flashbacks the pathetic story of the death of Dr. Herman Tarnower (a wasted Ben Kingsley) the Scarsdale Diet author/doctor/womanizer at the hands of Mrs. Jean Harris (Annette Bening) a upwardly climbing school marm who becomes Tarnower's live in lover and addicted to his prescribed drugs. Her life is plagued by Tarnower's inability to keep his apparent elephantine genitals (this is made clear in an extended ridiculously inane segment in a locker room!) in his pants and eventually her own shaky self perception leads her to a suicide attempt that results in Tarnower's murder. The story is based on fact so there is no giving away an ending.The only reason to watch this bit of tripe is Annette Bening who is such a gifted actress that she can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear - and this screenplay is definitely the latter. A surprising squandering of money is obvious in the casting of bit parts to fine actors such as Cloris Leachman, Brett Butler, Ellen Burstyn, Mary McDonnell, Phillip Baker Hall, Chloë Sevigny, etc. Many have only one line! Otherwise this is a one of those films that relies on media blitz spectacle posing as a worthy story to create a movie. A must miss - except for Bening. Grady Harp, February 06

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