Watch Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me For Free

Sick Product of a Sick System

Redundant and unnecessary.

Pretty Good

I wanted to but couldn't!

A fantastic little documentary on this bigger than life Broadway and cinema star. We are given a look into the woman Elaine Stritch and not just the actress, singer, star Elaine Stritch.She talks about herself as the old woman she is (or rather was) and she talks about herself as the young and beautiful up and coming actress/star. She hides nothing about her life - insecurities, alcoholism, diabetes, her fashion sense, and what she expects of herself and others.Watching this documentary is entertaining even if you have never heard of her. It will also make you glad you didn't know her (as it did for me). She comes across as an overbearing woman with maybe unreasonable demands, but thats what goes into becoming a star in ones own time.

This is a wonderfully candid, straightforward doc on the ever fascinating Elaine Stritch, who at 87 can still command your attention. Sharp and witty as ever, this workhorse of a woman was born for the stage. This film is very well put together by first time director Chiemi Karasawa, who never lets a false note into her documentary and keeps this at a lean 81 minutes. Shoot Me is never a puff piece or a shrine to Stritch, it's presents her past, her career and her demons without an ounce of schmaltz and without a heavy hand - in fact, despite a cameraman's voice occasionally, or Karasawa offscreen asking a question, the filmmakers feel invisible, which brings out honesty in the film and their subject.

(I felt compelled to check the SPOILER ALERT box because standards as to what constitutes a "spoiler" vary widely among film lovers. Some people want to be told just bout nothing about a given film. Movie trailers generally reveal far, far too much. As a film reviewer I try to keep to myself that which I would not want to know before experiencing a movie.)> ELAINE STRITCH IS A FORCE OF NATURE!I've always appreciated her flamboyant performances, but after seeing this delightful and disturbing biopic about this great dame of stage and screen, I find it impossible not to adore her. Elaine would be the first to admit that she is a "difficult" woman but the last to apologize for it. (We see some behind the scenes footage on the set of TV's 30 ROCK where Elaine is playing Alec Baldwin's "difficult", borderline loony mother and we get the very strong sense that she is really playing herself! Mr. Baldwin receives no small amount of crap from this barbed cactus of a woman, but he gives as good as he gets, and the wonderful closing credits reveal him to be one of the films executive producers. Good move, Alec.)Just about to turn 87 at the time SHOOT ME was filmed, the determined octogenarian is attempting to mount yet another bravura one-woman review, and though they had all been triumphs in a long and storied career, this one may be a bridge too far. Her health and memory are fading fast, and the lyrics in the Sondheim tribute she is undertaking are many and complex. She can't so much sing as bark and growl, but nobody barks and growls better than this one-of-a-kind performer. Her outspoken directness both masks and reveals a profound vulnerability that is very disarming and endearing. Ms. Stritch effortlessly brings the term "feisty" to new extremes, giving (mostly) good-natured grief to everyone she encounters. We see amazing footage from her early career that reminds us that this singer/actor/dancer/comedienne/personality has been terrific for a long, long time.But there's not much time left. Elaine knows this, she thinks about it and feels it deeply, sharing her thoughts and fears nakedly to the camera disheveled and sans makeup in her sick bed. It's wrenching. She knows all too well that that final curtain is soon to fall, and fears that this time, there will be no curtain call. The segments about the horror, humiliation and indignity of growing old are heartbreaking. The segments showing this fierce, brave woman persevering despite a failing body and faltering memory are absolutely inspiring.Along with Rob Bowman, her longtime piano accompanist, we fret and worry for this irascible but lovable woman that she has bitten off more than she can chew. Rehearsals are disastrous. She can barely remember the opening lines of the first song. As the audience assembles for opening night, we know something they didn't: that the formidable Ms. Stritch was not vaguely ready for that curtain to rise, and in fact, may never be And then there is her struggle with the bottle to contend with. She keeps telling us she has cut down to one drink a day, as we see her prepare her third or fourth highball. (Denial, as Mark Twain quipped, is more than just a river in Egypt.)See this wonderful film prepared to laugh and cry and think and feel. The way this consummate professional handles the inevitable lapses in front of live audiences is a true feat of showmanship and a wonder to behold.I love to share my enthusiasm for great films like this, and direct people to great films that might be just off the radar for most people. On the flip side, I JUST HATE SPENDING MY TIME OR MONEY ON MOVIES THAT I JUST DON'T ENJOY. Life is too short- my wallet too empty for that crap. Fellow cinephiles! Please lend me your ear. I publish little-read essays constantly in the QUIET IN THE BACK channel of my KPKworld blog. This was my 100th post in the category. Find the other 99 at:http://lastcre8iveiconoclast.wordpress.com/.../quiet-in.../

Like its subject herself this is a one-off and a priceless record of a unique entertainer still going strong at 87. It's so good that you find yourself wishing that someone had done the same for George Burns, Jack Benny, Bob Hope and certainly Judy Garland, those artists who somehow transcend iconic and penetrate our psyches the way a harpoon penetrates the blubber protecting a whale. Stritch is seen at both high and low points and though there are nods to her early career - which took off in the late forties in Revue - the bulk of the footage celebrates her later years including the outstanding one-woman show Elaine Stritch At Liberty though the good thing is that it doesn't re-cycle the material from that Tony-winner. She is, of course, closely identified with Sondheim material and though the composer/lyricist is seen a couple of times he is conspicuous by his failure to offer a personal comment as, for example, Alec Baldwin does. This was so noticeable that an audience member brought it up at the Q & A after the screening and the question was fielded by Rob Bowden, Stritch's accompanist for several years, who said that though they formed a mutual admiration society there was also an underlying tension. Fair enough and she doesn't really need an endorsement from Sondheim or, indeed, from anyone. She is her own best Advance Man and long may she continue to be.