Customer Reviews

Mrs. Harris

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Mrs. Harris is a film that has severely divided audiences and critics. There are those who have absolutely hated this film, which is based on a true story of the tragic death of Dr. Herman Tarnower (Ben Kingsley) - the Scarsdale Diet Doctor - supposedly by the gun of Jean Harris (Annette Bening). The murder and the proceeding trial was scandalous, after all, it had everything - sex, drugs, abuse, suicides all played out amongst the stuffy and wealthy Connecticut aristocracy.

This film, made for HBO takes a rather moribund look at the events with the director Phyllis Nagy inserting some dark, almost off beat humor into the proceedings. The movie jumps around a bit, combining statements from the trial and interviews with friends and family to launch into the retelling of events that lead up to that fatal outcome.

Was it murder or accidental death? The film opens with the drugged out Jean turning up to Tarnower's house one stormy night and shooting him, but was it an accidental shooting, and was she so emotionally wrought that she didn't know what she was doing? Her defense says yes, but whether she was really responsible or not is up to you, though history states that Mrs. Harris was found guilty.

The suspense is a bit spoilt from showing us what actually happened that fateful night, but the film is still an entertaining and somewhat cautionary tale of a relationship that has gone terribly wrong. Both Kinsley and Bening are perfect as the respective couple, he manipulative, icy and dispassionate, and she the victim, not only of the prescription drugs he constantly doles out to her, but also of his emotional abuse.

It's hard to believe that such an intelligent and respectable woman such as Jean Harris - she was a head mistress of an exclusive girl's school - would find her self embroiled in such an affair and it ultimately cause her undoing. She actually spent fourteen years and thousands of miles ferrying to and from his bed, putting up with his obnoxious sister, finding out he'd never marry her, and discovering other women's lingerie in his bathroom.

So it remains a bit of a mystery why he had such a hold on her, maybe she was a bit narcissistic in the first place, or maybe she was just in it for the drugs, or maybe as the film suggests in a provocative locker room scene, it was actually his masculine organ that had her enthralled.

Mrs. Harris reads like a who's who of A-list actors. Much of the film hangs on cameos by Ellen Burstyn to Brett Butler to Chloë Sevigny, Mary McDonnell, and Philip Baker Hall. None of them are really given that much to do. Leave it to Frances Fisher as Jean's worried friend, Frank Whaley for the prosecution, Bill Smitrovich for the defense, and Cloris Leachman as Hy's sister Pearl, to get the lions share of the action.

The tale is no doubt tawdry and the characterizations are over-the-top, but Mrs. Harris is never boring, with the lovely Mrs. Bening giving a performance that totally anchors the film. Obviously, Tarnower wasn't the most attractive of men, and Kinsley plays him almost as a borderline misogynist. His incessant womanizing and her drug-heightened dependency on him constantly put off Jean, yet mysteriously, she kept going back to him.

The film works best when it deals with the nuts and bolts of their relationship, suggesting that it was based on much more than Joan just wanting him for his money and success and her eventual downward spiral is played both tender and sad. It makes you think that there was certainly a connection there - after all, over the years there was certainly lots of dancing, boating, eating, and sex - along with fourteen years of temper tantrums, tumultuousness, infidelity and ultimately death. Mike Leonard August 06

Since "what happens" is already known, this movie focuses on "how" it happened, via a series of mocumentry interviews, fantasy scenes,(one in a men's locker room is superb), and fashbacks. Some excellent scriptwriting ("Jean you really should be maried. Just not to me.") and even better acting especially by Ben Kingsley who plays the Scarsdale Diet author, and Annette Bening, who is superb as Mrs. Jean Harris. Bening is one of the best actresses I've seen who can dive into the role of an ambitious frump (think Elizabeth Taylor in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?", with a less viscious dialogue, served at a lower room termperature) and emerge with a gem of a performance.

A courtroom drama that doesn't unfold in the courtroom at all. It is told through a story line with two different views on what happened that fateful night. It'll make you wonder what really took place.

Fine, fine performance by Annette Bening. Has she ever made a bad movie?Ben Kingsley usually always does well in his roles too (see the powerful movie 'House of Sand and Fog' or 'Death and the Maiden').

A well recommended movie.

I was a bit disappointed in this movie. I had read the true crim book of slaying years ago, but recalled enough to be interested in this movie when I saw it in the video store.

It has it moments of protraying the central characthers as they were, but a lot of the moments seemed wooden or not "life-like". There was no passion...truly felt passion. Annette Bening and Kingly are both top notch actors, so I feel it was the direction that is lacking here. It certainly explains the murder, the case, the different sides to the story plainly enough. Just with not as much eloquence or excitement as the case would merit.

I did enjoy it, I just expected a lot more.

I absolutely love this movie. I am so happy Amazon had it available for purchase. It never comes on HBO anymore.

Ben Kingsley is an inspired choice to play the bald-headed diet doc who gets shot by his jealous middle-aged girlfriend way back in 1980. This was tabloid manna back then, and this newer film manages to convey why Mrs. Harris probably shot the guy. He was a creep. What doesn't make sense is why she was so nuts about him. The film doesn't get that message over very well. Still, this is pretty entertaining stuff about a slice of 1970s society.

If you have seen the earlier film made about the infamous Jean Harris and her "killing" of Scarsdale Diet Guru Hy Tarnower entitled The People Vs. Jean Harris.Neither is very compelling,as the the story and trial in real life is more sensational than it is interesting fodder for a movie.Because the real life story is from the perspective of a woman who, to this day we are not sure what the real story is over the relationship of Harris and Tarnower,(he's dead... so dead men can't talk!), then the best we can get is a screenplay that comes from the true testimony of the trial account (which is actually quite dull and unenlightening to begin with) and the skewed talking-head interviews who can only give their opinions.Everytime this story is told we are left with HIS SIDE,HER SIDE AND THE TRUTH.We will never know what the truth is, and Harris, though convicted,served her time and is out doing charity work! She moved on and so should we from this DVD! Not even the presence of Annette Bening and Ben Kingsley make this worth a purchase nor a second viewing.

I became a fan of the movie after my first viewing and have DVR'd it so I can watch whenever I want. Ben Kingsley and Annette Bening give wonderful performances, the chemistry between these two makes this a movie worth watching. If Dr. Herman Tarnower was a rich self-centered womanizing jerk, then Ben Kingsley conveyed that in so many ways. I was really entertained with the way these two communicated with each other throughout the movie, for example when Jean begged her lover to stop concentrating on hurting so many women and just concentrate on hurting her, wow. Eventually I will purchase the movie.

This movie flowed in a wonderful way, unraveling the life of Mrs. Harris' and the life she had to endure being the wife of everyone's super hero. Mr. Harris' total flagrant disregard for his wife's emotional needs, can be found among many married couples. His emotional abuse, narcissism and his need for adoration, however is much less common. He never took her seriously. At her final moment of desperation, he was incredulous that she betrayed him (and so was she).
This movie is for every woman who has been neglected and dismissed. This movie is a warning for every man, who thinks that the women exist merely to serve him.

Inspite of the serious subject matter, it was told in a thoroughly entertaining manner. I truly think that many men would find this entertaining and not feel targeted, those who do feel targeted probably need to get some reality therapy.

Beautifully and artfully composed with fine acting by all.

The film can be seen and enjoyed as is...or can be enhanced by viewing the voice-overs by Ben and Annette.
The director's voice-over version and the final documentary film with clips and comments by the real Mrs Harris and some of the actual courtroom participants completed the experience.

Highly recommended for subtle acting, fine coloration, wonderful costumes and (at times) darkly humorous dialogue.