Day 55-- Cat on a Hot Tin Roof movie review

There are two times I like to watch classic movies: by myself during a weekend brunch, or a dinner/dessert night with the boyfriend or the girls.  The powerful but slow-paced Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958) is definitely a rainy brunch sort of movie.

Starring Elizabeth Taylor as Maggie and Paul Newman as Brick, these two forces of nature bring to life the Tennessee Williams play to cinema, and they do so with the ferocity of two actors clawing their way out of the muck of stereotypes.

Taylor embodies the sensuous and feisty Maggie with an earnest candor that earned her her second Academy Award nomination.  At this point in Taylor's career audiences were used to seeing her as a pretty face with a voluminous body.  Maggie was her further proof that she could actually act, and that Raintree County wasn't a fluke.  Newman was in a similar position in 1958, and with his brooding and emotionally ugly Brick, Newman found his ticket to better roles and more respect (he too earned an Academy Award nom).  It's the difference between Megan Fox and Angelina Jolie, between Mathew McConaughey and Brad Pitt.  The right movie changes everything.

And they did it with style.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof takes place on warm Southern day of Brick's father's (Big Daddy) birthday.  Three emotional thunderstorms are brewing as the liquor pours and tempers rises.  Brick and Maggie's marriage is in full destruction mode as Brick will not sleep with Maggie nor can stand being around her (for reasons unknown until later).  Big Daddy, a boisterous and callous man is coming to terms with his cancer and immediate mortality.  And the greedy eldest son and his meddling wife are embattled with family over the estate once Big Daddy is gone.

This is a simmering fight of mendacity versus the truth, love versus guilt, and will versus stubbornness. 

Plays are hard to translate onto screen, and despite the best acting of the main and supporting characters, this movie has the restricted feel of only 5 set changes and 6 characters (not including the annoying children).  It also has the unfortunate of saying a lot but not saying anything profound or surprising.  This is a portrait of a family where none of members particularity like each other.

Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is brilliantly acted, but it's a slow burn that will quickly lose short attention spans.

Do yourself a favor and the next time it's raining out and you're nursing a cup of spiked coco, check this movie out and prepare for the slow dazzle of hot emotions in a tight space and time.