Painted Lady (1998)

Sadly Over-hyped

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

I watched this on TV over a decade ago, kept a tape of it at whose spine I looked fondly from time to time, and finally saw it again on Netflix with my husband last night. He was not immediately enthralled (though I was, all over again). After the first hour or so, we had to keep watching as the suspense and loose ends multiply, and I had forgotten the twists and turns. I love way the plot works out and the loose ends are tied up. On second viewing, however, with a more critical companion, I realized how absurd some of the best plot developments and most memorable scenes actually are.At some level, the production works because of the way it is haunted by images of Baroque paintings, saints in various violent and twisted poses and situations. The love of art is intense in many of the characters, and when Maggie finally sees Artemesia's Judith canvas her face tells us that this violent, even horrible scene is beautiful. (Another important painting in the story is a Goya bullfight scene.) As in a Caravaggio painting, the faces--the performances--stand out as realistic, everyday people, recognizable in the street (or at least the streets of drama)--they are complex, confused, liable to do stupid things or to misunderstand a given situation completely. Many of them are obsessed by symbols, too--Charles dies at the beginning of the story because he cannot bear to see his long-dead wife's rather ugly portrait damaged; Maggie carries her father's cigarette case like a fetish. The way these characters meet each other and interact in the gloom of the plot is beautiful and moving. But their motivations remain murky and incomprehensible.Mirren performs a fabulous double role--Maggie the tough streetwise bohemian earth-mother artist and her alter ego The Countess, whose knowledge, apparent prosperity, and aristocratic manner hide a terrible fragility. Maggie is of course acting the role of The Countess, worrying that the mask may slip, but her sister at one point implies that she is also acting the role of Maggie. Maggie lives in her own world, a world of music, in which emotional attachments last a long time and give life shape and meaning. That "explains" everything.

"Painted Lady" is perfectly dreadful television fare. Don't waste your time with it. Plot strands, sometimes pretty and other times gritty, fly off in every direction without the slightest resolution. Characters -- a boy in the bath, street thugs, art dealers with Italian accents, restorers, purveyors of rough trade, even a dog -- come and go. The film begins as a British police investigatory, mind you, but the cops fail to properly investigate what should be an absurdly easy murder to solve. They are out of it by the second reel. (Where is Hercule Poirot when you need him!) Helen Mirren, unconvincing as a retired rocker with a pin in the side of her nose, is also unconvincing as a Polish noblewoman in disguise. She fails to save it. And the credits roll.Mirren's character, you see, lives off the largesse of Sir Charles Stafford, the aged -- and debt-burdened -- proprietor of a great house somewhere in the British Isles. One night, while she lolls with a boy toy, Stafford is killed in what appears to be the heist of an Old Master hanging in the hall. The audience immediately knows who done it and why. For reasons known only to the scriptwriter, Mirren hides Stafford's gun from the police, reconnects with Stafford's wayward son, and sets out to recover the painting, which may or may not exist.The audience is treated to a good bit of art history and one of those plummy high-stakes art auctions, but it is all pointless. Nothing happens. Nothing makes sense. And Mirren's song lyrics are just awful. "Painted Lady" is "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" light. Watch something else.

"Painted Lady" is a 3.5 hour, two part miniseries made for Masterpiece Theater and featuring Helen Mirren as Maggie, a down and out and aging ex-druggie/blues singer who inhabits a cottage on the Ireland estate of a well-to-do friend. When her friend is murdered, Maggie makes an unlikely transformation as she turns herself into a countess, enters the world of classical painting treasures, and sets about to bring the killer to justice. A cozy mystery with a whiff of sex and drugs but nary a harsh word spoken, this typical Masterpiece Theater TV fare is a mildly entertaining watch which keeps moving as it becomes increasingly convoluted. On the downside, Mirren is much too sagacious and elegant for a down and out blues singer and the warm and fuzzy milieu fits the intended audience better than the story. On the upside, this Mirren tour de force and tale of intrigues in the world of art is captivating, engrossing, and sufficiently substantiative to keep the viewer involved for the long haul. Recommended for more mature viewers and those who enjoy the very civilized Masterpiece Theater fare. (B)

Another knockout performance by Helen Mirren as a down and out '60s folk singer who, in order to help the family that took her in, goes undercover as an art dealer. Mirren, of course, does the transition from drugged-out hippie throwback to a glamorous woman of the world perfectly in this intriguing and very exciting story. Iain Glen as Sebastian is charismatic and wonderful, as is the entire cast. Probably the best part of this mini-series is Mirren, as Maggie, interacting with her sister and brother-in-law. The family dynamics hit a perfect note. This is a must-see on all levels - acting, drama and suspense with warmth and humor thrown in. Mirren is not only a great actress but one with impeccable taste when it comes to many of the scripts that have been produced and shown in the U.S. on public television. Bravo!