Streetcar Named Desire (1995)

Jessica Lange as Blanche: pure genius!

This lavish 1995 television remake of A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE is simply sublime. Jessica Lange is perfect casting for the tour-de-force role of Blanche DuBois, and Tennessee Williams' play still packs a hell of a punch.

Blanche DuBois (Jessica Lange) goes to visit her sister Stella (Diane Lane) and her husband, boorish Stanley Kowalski (Alec Baldwin) one sultry summer in New Orleans. Blanche lives in a world of her own creation to protect herself from the frightening, black gaping void of a hostile real world from which she simply cannot survive. When Stanley discovers Blanche's weaknesses it's only a matter of time before she cracks completely.

Tennessee Williams' dramatic tale of the innocent and fragile being crushed by a hostile and cruel world is still amazingly relevant. John Goodman turns in a heartbreaking performance as Mitch, the man who falls in love with Blanche but is too weak to fight for her. Diane Lane is a knockout as Stella, Stanley's wife who'll stand by him whatever happens. Alec Baldwin is all menace and smouldering sexuality as Stanley.

Jessica Lange, treading in the hallowed footsteps of Jessica Tandy, Uta Hagen and Vivien Leigh, is a vibrant and vital Blanche. Completely enchanting and bubbly in her early scenes and then slowly letting the mask fall as the world around her becomes too raw and real.

This STREETCAR will completely break your heart. December 21, 2004

This Movie Compares Well With the Original!

Perhaps I had lower expectations of this production since I have always been taken by the 1951 version of this Tennessee Williams classic with Marlon Brando and Vivien Leigh. I couldn't imagine any performance by any actor competing with theirs. But in this version both Alec Baldwin and Jessica Lange distinguish themselves. Of course they are not Brando and Leigh but they don't have to be. Lange who is famous for playing disturbed women (FRANCES and BLUE SKIES) is quite good as the fragile, mentally wobbly Blanche. There are times when she has that scary, crazy look in her eyes that puts chills on your spine. While Baldwin is not quite as much of an animal as Brando, he certainly is believable as the rough and sexy Stanley. Nobody exhibits more anger on screen than Mr. Baldwin. John Goodman brings a gentleness to his role as Mitch that makes him just right for the guiles of Blanche.

This entire production holds up well against the original with one exception. While I appreciate the additions that were omitted from the 1951 production-- we can speak about homosexuality now when even the Vice President of the United States talks about his gay daughter-- this version, however, is close to being too long. By the time the movie ended, I was ready for Blanche-- in what must be one of the saddest scenes in film-- to leave and make her famous statement about the kindness of strangers. October 2, 2004

Refurbished Streetcar rides better than the original

I was age two in 1951 when Tennessee Williams's A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE had its first Silver Screen incarnation. I don't recall seeing this film during the 50s as part of a twenty-five cent, Saturday, kiddy matinee double feature. Well, we would have been bored with such grown-up tempests-in-a-teapot anyway. As an adult, I can now view both the original and this 1995 version, and reap the benefit of improved film-making technology and relaxed censorship, though both versions are substantively identical - no surprise, since they're both working off the same script.

Blanche Dubois arrives in post-WWII New Orleans from Mississippi to visit her younger sister Stella, who's married to Stanley Kowalsky. Both women were the products of a genteel, Southern upbringing, and Blanche is appalled by Stanley's brutishness and the sweltering, seedy, French Quarter apartment in which her sister happily lives. Early in life, Blanche was psychologically devastated her young husband's death. He'd committed suicide after Blanche had discovered his homosexuality and confronted him. Stella having departed the family estate, Belle Reve, for the Big City, the widowed Blanche was left to deal with the deaths of parents and the eventual loss of Belle Reve to creditors. Now, at the edge of sanity, Blanche perceives herself as a classic Southern lady fallen on hard times. But she has another side which Stanley, a male "pig" if there ever was one, immediately perceives. It's their tense interaction over several months that provides the story's conflict and seals Blanche's fate.

How do the players compare?

Alec Baldwin's 1995 Stanley is more than adequate. OK, he doesn't have the animal presence of Marlon Brando's original, but at least the former doesn't talk as if through a mouthful of cotton. And if I hear the 1951 Stanley screech his high-pitched "Stella!" one more time, I'll lose it.

The role of Blanche is better served by Jessica Lange than Vivien Leigh. To me, Leigh's version came off with a touch of spoiled brat, while Lange's embodied more of the vulnerability and residual gentility that comprised the essence of Blanche. In that persona, Leigh's illusions and delusions seemed overacted, while Lange's seemed inherently genuine. (Do I suffer from being too infatuated with Jessica's role in TOOTSIE?)

John Goodman as Mitch, who becomes smitten with Stanley's sister-in-law, is more of a flawed-yet-sympathetic figure than was Karl Malden's original. Perhaps it's because Goodman's more massive physique contrasts better with his (initial) gentleness.

Played by Diane Lane (1995) and Kim Hunter (1951), Stella is a toss-up. I give Ms. Lane the nod simply because she's a superb, contemporary actress that I fondly recall from LONESOME DOVE and UNFAITHFUL.

Purists will rage, but if I had to recommend one version over another, it would be this one. Filmed in color, it provides more atmosphere and depth than the B&W original. And the viewer no longer has to cope with the early-1950s censorship that muddied dialog and scenes having to do with homosexuality, rape and nymphomania. This is a half-century later; let's move on for Chrissakes! After all, the "classic" story is Williams's original play. (Who knows? In 2050, a third screen edition may do it even better. Perhaps it'll be a holographic presentation.)

For me, the best scene in both is at the end when Blanche is gallantly treated like the lady she believes herself to be, and she poignantly remarks, "Whoever you are, I have always depended on the kindness of strangers." To get through life, we all do. April 16, 2003

Simply Perfect

I've never seen the original, but this TV version was truly mezmerizing. I love Jessica Lange so I am biased when it comes to her performances. However, I had such compassion for her portrayal of Blanche. She portrays the character as such a lost and troubled soul. You feel a sence of impending doom building throughout the film which is satisfied by the film's explosive climax. The entire cast is first-rate and seem to compliment each other's performance. I could watch this one over and over. July 14, 2001

Jessica is truly amazing!

It's hard for anyone to believe that Jessica Lange could outshine Vivien Leigh in one of the latter's signature role, but she did. Alec Baldwin is no match for Marlon Brando. However, this new version is more faithful to the original. And it's worth seeing even only for Lange's magical performance. Her final scene is truly heartbreaking. March 12, 2000

More reviews at Amazon.com ...