17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Liberace TV Bio-Pic, September 10, 2005
This review is from: Liberace (DVD)
This is the TV bio-pic produced in the late 80's starring Victor Garber and Maureen Stapleton. It has only previously been available on VHS in limited availability in some countries, this is its first appearance on DVD. As tv movies go it isn't too bad and the leading man gives a fairly good portrayal of Liberace. A fairly accurate bio-pic, I liked it a lot.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Add 1 star for magnificent Garber performance; subtract 1 star for choppy continuity, April 14, 2008
This 1988 TV-movie dramatizes the life of Liberace, who rose from a "shabby" background to become a world-class pianist and a human monument to glamour. In other hands this could have been a shrill, sensationalized biography, dwelling on smirking innuendos and tawdry episodes, with Liberace presented as a flamboyant, shallow caricature. Thankfully both the script and the performances are sympathetic, and viewers can sense just how sensitive and troubled Liberace was.
Victor Garber turns in a stellar performance as Liberace. The actor obviously studied Liberace's speech patterns. body language, and pianistics, and the results are dazzling: he not only looks and sounds like Liberace, he even sings like him. The film commendably traces Liberace's rise to fame and re-creates milestones in his career (including a careful facsimile of his 1950s TV show).
Unfortunately the action is sometimes choppy, with sudden stops and abrupt transitions. Several of the plot elements and characters are established without introduction or identification, and just as suddenly abandoned. What should be a finished portrait comes across as a hasty sketch. It's hard to tell if this is the screenwriter failing to develop certain situations, or the film editor being forced to cram a 50-year span into an hour and a half. Either way, the momentum of the story is frequently blunted, but Garber's riveting turn helps cover the rough spots.
Maureen Stapleton is excellent as Liberace's possessive mother, as is Saul Rubinek as his longtime manager Seymour Heller (who is credited as a technical advisor). Macha Grenon's presence is welcome as one of the young Liberace's few friends, but she is hastily written out (or edited out) as the film forges ahead.
Picture and sound quality are very good overall (there are two tiny digital glitches in the video transfer, causing momentary silences). The DVD also includes a trailer (actually an extended TV promo, using many representative clips).
Watch this one for Victor Garber. He's most of the show.
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10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It's Great that this is on DVD!!, January 27, 2006
This review is from: Liberace (DVD)
I saw this TV movie back in the 80's and loved it! I've been hoping it would be released on DVD. I'm so glad it has been made available! This is a keeper.
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