StunnaKrypto Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

Manthast Absolutely amazing

Kimball Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

southdavid Season One Review.Ryan Murphy returns to our screens with another anthology series, this one focusing on famous true life historical feuds. This first season looks at the hostility that existed between Joan Crawford and Bette Davis before, during and after the filming of their seminal Oscar winning classic "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane". Murphy's muse, Jessica Lange, is perfectly cast as Joan Crawford. Lange, like Crawford, had won Oscar's earlier in her career only to struggle for better roles later in life but fortunately for Lange, Televisions current golden age has offered a career renaissance that just wasn't available in the seventies. It's a role filled with sadness and desperation, having spent her youth fighting to get to Hollywood, she's not willing to accept her marginalisation and is desperate for "Baby Jane" to be the hit that keeps her relevant. But it's a rounded portrayal, the series shows her as being as petty and devious as her co-star and never asks you to pick between them. Susan Sarandon is also perfectly cast as Bette Davies, the more legitimate actress of the two, witty and outspoken. The cast is rounded off by Alfred Molina, as "Baby Jane" director Robert Aldrich, Catharine Zeta-Jones as Olivia De Haviland and Stanley Tucci as Jack Warner. The performances are universally excellent and it's a testament to Murphy's drawing power that he can put together a cast like this. The plot is best described as loose biography. It attempts to capture the spirit of the feud if not the exact events that took place. They rightly choose the most entertaining version of the mythos that they can provide and the series is never less than hugely watchable. I felt that the series could have benefitted from slightly more of their careers before "Baby Jane" at the expense of slightly less after it as that occasionally started to repeat the story beats - but this is a minor quibble with an excellent compelling series that I thoroughly enjoyed. (Despite my enjoyment of this series, I can't help but feel that the controversial proposed second series - about the rift between Princess Diana and Prince Charles, prior to her death, is not going to go down anything like as well on this side of the Atlantic, but I'm prepared to wait and see).

phd_travel The acting is superb. Susan Sarandon - perennially youthful acts and talks like Bette Davis. Jessica Lange is just as convincing as Joan Crawford. Ryan Murphy has really taken a fascinating subject and created a pretty long series that isn't boring for a second. Good support from Alfred Molina as the director, Stanley Tucci as Jack Warner, Judy Davis as Hedda Hopper and Kiernan Shipka of Mad Men as Bette's daughter. Who knew the behind the scenes of making a movie could be so interesting. Looked forward to every episode.Advice to viewers watch "Baby Jane" again if you can't remember it.The only fault is didn't like Catherine Zeta Jones at Olivia de Havilland. For anybody who has seen Olivia in "Gone with the Wind" and "Light in the Piazza" or any of her movies knows that isn't the way she talks. Her looks were wrong too lacking that sweetness that Olivia has. Recently Olivia has come out suing the makers of the series for fabricating the interviews she gave and putting gossipy and bitchy statements in her mouth in this show. Looking back it did strike me as out of character for her to talk in such a matter. This is the only fault of this otherwise very good miniseries.

Strega Granger This is not only a fantastic but also a terrific TV series, as we are used to with Ryan Murphy's series. But this one and this season (the only one so far) has something special, something magical and that is, that the story that it tells if did really happened. Maybe not exactly like this, of course some things might change, but still, as a whole it did happen and the story that is being told is as much magical as it is pure reality.The series depicts in a brilliantly way that part of the life of the two actresses that were Bette and Joan. They were tough at the time were women didn't matter much, even if they had a collection of Oscar awards. And who better to play these characters that two today huge actresses such as Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange? They absolutely nail it, and if you don't believe so you better look for a comparison video that now that the show is over there are more than mushrooms in the forest. They are the show. They portrait the two golden actresses in a formidable way that at some point you might think if it isn't the real ones on-screen. But it's not only these two that are brilliant, all the supporting actors and actresses are stunning. I must mention Catherine Zeta Jones playing Olivia de Havilland, she is just awesome, simply awesome.Besides the way they portrait the characters there is also the setting, the attrezzo, the glamour of the late 50s and early 60s in a Hollywood that it's not the Hollywood that we are used to. Something always interesting form a historical point of view that here is depicted in a real realistic way that helps you remember about what it was making a movie back then. Every tiny detail is well presented and you can only enjoy the show and feel like you were living back then.It doesn't matter if you had no idea about what this show depicts: the legendary feud between the two actresses because after watching this series you will only want to watch the movie that started it all "What happened to Baby Jane?", or did it continue the legend that was the feud? And if you did know about the story, you will simply enjoy it with all your senses and wish that there were more than 8 episodes.

paulb47 This is rave review, no two ways about it. In retrospect Lang had the meatier role, as they fleshed out Joan's character in more detail. Susan with Bette, had a more SANE and centered character to portray. Both actresses turned in A-Mazing performances and I won't even attempt to compare them as in one was "better" than the other. With both I quickly lost the sense that I was watching an actress "impersonate" a famous person---they both just became the two women they were playing. Obviously it's easily to do a Broad Characterization of Davis. Drag Queens have been doing that FOR DECADES. Sarandon didn't resorts except once or twice, where it made sense, to that shtick. She nails the Character without it. And Lang is no less phenomenal in the way she inhabits Joan Crawford. These are two extraordinary Actresses at their Peek Powers and I won't compare or try to rate one above the other.The entire cast, male and female and the entire production was simply the BEST that TV has ever Offered. I could write Chapters about every single participated in this series. It was simply Extraordinary. I captured it on my Spectrum DVR and have watched it over and over again. I can't seem to let go of it. I'm NOT done yet. Brava/bravo/brave/bravi to EVERYONE involved.