I don't recall if I watched this in the 80s. I loved Charlie's Angels, every teen girl tuned in weekly. And I remember The Burning Bed. But for me, Fawcett was the wrong choice here. I know a lot of people will disagree because the fans just want to adore her. But Downs was a homely looking woman with an equally uninteresting wadrobe, a sarcastic demeanor and an inability to stop talking. Yet the producers not only don't attempt to make Farrah look the part or fully characterized Diane but actually accentuate her figure and flaunt her hair always with full make-up and logs of the glamorous smile. The only acting seemed to be adding a grovely twang that I wouldn't characterize as Diane or Farrah, and a lot of eye rolling. It makes the film seem to be about Farrah. And let's face it, much like Lee Majors was the reason she got the part in Charlie's Angels, O'Neil is the reason she got this part.
I am not anti Farrah in any way but I'm the most objective review on here. Over the years, beautiful but talented actresses have bared it all to prove their acting ability - Nichole Kidman, Angela Bassette, Elizabeth Taylor, Betty Davis... But Fawcett is always playing to the camera instead of acting.
So what we get is a frame of a tragic, shocking story that we can barely tell is in this film because it's so focused on making it all about Diane in order to put Farrah in front of the camera for 90% of this endless mini series.
I know that back in the 80s it was all about getting the most viewers for as long as possible to use for advertising spots. But this was a huge story in the news and anyone could have played Diane and gotten high ratings. Heck, just having Ryan O'Neal would have bumped the ratings way up. Farrah was pigeon holed for Charlie's Angels and nite she was in the past until her new boyfriend wanted to help get her back in tv.
People forget, when she broke her contract with Charlie's Angels she was black listed from the industry; no one would touch someone they couldn't depend on. When she started dating O'Neal, he became her leverage.
But bad acting and famous hair only gets you so far. She destroyed any hope of being taken seriously when she demanded to be put on a poster practically bare in a time when soft p-orn was deeply frowned on by average American households. Things are different now, though not necessarily improved.
Farrah was used for her attraction to men and was never a serious actress. We could say that isn't her fault but this film deserved to be taken more seriously.
I am not anti Farrah in any way but I'm the most objective review on here. Over the years, beautiful but talented actresses have bared it all to prove their acting ability - Nichole Kidman, Angela Bassette, Elizabeth Taylor, Betty Davis... But Fawcett is always playing to the camera instead of acting.
So what we get is a frame of a tragic, shocking story that we can barely tell is in this film because it's so focused on making it all about Diane in order to put Farrah in front of the camera for 90% of this endless mini series.
I know that back in the 80s it was all about getting the most viewers for as long as possible to use for advertising spots. But this was a huge story in the news and anyone could have played Diane and gotten high ratings. Heck, just having Ryan O'Neal would have bumped the ratings way up. Farrah was pigeon holed for Charlie's Angels and nite she was in the past until her new boyfriend wanted to help get her back in tv.
People forget, when she broke her contract with Charlie's Angels she was black listed from the industry; no one would touch someone they couldn't depend on. When she started dating O'Neal, he became her leverage.
But bad acting and famous hair only gets you so far. She destroyed any hope of being taken seriously when she demanded to be put on a poster practically bare in a time when soft p-orn was deeply frowned on by average American households. Things are different now, though not necessarily improved.
Farrah was used for her attraction to men and was never a serious actress. We could say that isn't her fault but this film deserved to be taken more seriously.