More punctuation!If you really want to get a good feel for this film, just look at Elizabeth Taylor's snarl on the cover of the DVD. Like she was going to pounce on Richard Burton's torso and rip his trachea out with her teeth. Her breath stinking of brandy, her hair flailing, her speech slurred as she spits while trying to pronounce her words. George (Burton ... Taylor's real-life husband, so some of that venom might have been real) didn't stand a chance. And he didn't. That's kinda why he's so angry: Because no matter how much smarter he was, no matter how many books he read or wrote, he was always going to be the one with his trachea dangling like a limp spaghetti noodle out of Taylor's teeth.
By far, this is the most tense film I've ever seen. It makes you cringe from the very beginning to the very end as you try to navigate your way through the constant bickering to get to what makes these people tick ... or keeps them from killing each other.
It honestly took me a couple of minutes to fully realize that that was the great Elizabeth Taylor. I assume they forced her to gain weight because she looked completely different. Granted, she was a lady who would wear a little heft very well, but she was three years removed from portraying Cleopatra in one of her hottest roles.
An angry movie that kinda makes you want to go hug someone ... and not drink for about two months.
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