So ... it's been a long time since I had the energy or time to post on the web. I've been meaning to do so, but I've had several minor health issues during this winter and, frankly, I've gotten a bit lazy too. Part of it, I guess, is that I spend a full day (and some evenings) in front of a computer so I'm not particularly excited to come home and tap out some lines ... BUT even though it is April, I'm implementing resolutions to change all that.

One of my goals with this blog is to post my reactions to movies that I've seen recently. Since I'm a member of both Netflix and GreenCine I'm watching a lot of DVDs.  Netflix has a great selection but there are a few more obscure films that they don't have which GreenCine does. Right now, I've got 6 movies from them to watch, including DIFFERENT FOR GIRLS which I saw over ten years ago when I was just starting resuming my  career as a critic. My review appears to be lost to the ethernet -- I was pretty lax about keeping printed copies in those days and I worked with floppy disks (anyone remember them?), so ... I decided to check the movie out again to see if my memories jive with the actual film.

In fact, I recently saw EVITA  on cable TV and was surprised by it. Although I wasn't assigned to review the movie upon its release in 1996, I did see it at the Loews Lincoln Square Theater on a Saturday morning. Despite it being an 11am show, the theater was packed -- I think the film had been playing for about a week and there was still the curiosity factor. Now I had seen the stage production twice: once on Broadway in 1980 with Patti LuPone (although Mandy Patinkin and Bob Gunton had played their last performances the night before) and again in 1981 when the touring company played Boston. I remember thinking that the Boston production was better because the Che was more effective, although the actress playing Eva was not quite up to Ms. LuPone's performance.

Since Madonna had been cast in the title role (after actresses like Meryl Streep and Michelle Pfeiffer had flirted with the role), there was a lot of questioning: would she be able to do the part justice?  Well, Madonna apparently worked hard, took singing lessons and gave it her all. But in 1996, there was a blacklash against the singer and many critics attacked her performance. At the time, I was underwhelmed but I placed a lot of the blame on director Alan Parker, who kept cutting away from Madonna during what should have been her big moments. Instead, I concentrated on Antonio Banderas who appeared to be out-acting and out-singing his co-stars.

Now 12 years later, I would have to refine my thoughts. Banderas now seems to be the weak link, particularly since someone -- and I have to assume it was Parker who wrote and directed the film -- decided to downplay any ties between the character and the real-life Ernesto Guevara. On stage, Patinkin in the original and all those who followed him, wore a beard, a beret and dressed frequently in camouflage -- the almost stereotypical look that most associate with Che. The link between the character and the man (who was born and raised in Argentina and lived through the years when  Juan and Eva Perón's were in power) is diluted in the film. In hindsight, Banderas seems miscast as the figure who functions as a Greek chorus throughout the story.

I've never been much of a fan of Jonathan Pryce's -- but he acquits himself well enough as Perón. The real surprise is how well Madonna's performance has held up -- she takes the character from a teenager through Eva's death from cancer at 33.  She both sings and acts well, crafting a character that in some ways she was born to play. The few changes that Parker made, like giving Eva the song "Another Suitcase in Another Hall," and the addition of a new song by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, "You Must Love Me" (which predictably won the Academy Award for Best Song), work overall. The film's production values are spectacular: the costumes (by Penny Rose), the production design (by Brian Morris) and the cinematography (by Darius Khondji). My one major criticism now -- as it was in 1996 -- is Parker's erratic direction. I don't know if he didn't trust his leading lady or what, but he undercut her performance, especially during what should be the high point, when Eva is on the balcony of the Casa Rosada and sings "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina."

I'm actually glad I revisited the film. I have the various recordings of the stage show, from the concept recording to the London premiere to the Broadway cast album and it's interesting to trace the changes the creators made. They continued to fiddle with the score for the film as well, but the result on screen is much better than I remembered from 12 years ago. If I were rating it now, I'd probably give it a solid B.