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Overview

User Rating:
6.2/10   777 votes
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Director:
Rosanna Arquette
Writer:
Rosanna Arquette (experiencer)
Contact:
View company contact information for Searching for Debra Winger on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
13 July 2002 (USA) more
Genre:
Documentary more
Plot:
Rosanna Arquette talks to various actresses about the pressures they face as women working in the entertainment industry. full summary | add synopsis
Plot Keywords:
more
User Comments:
privileged beauties kvetch more (44 total)

Cast

  (Credited cast)

Patricia Arquette ... Herself

Rosanna Arquette ... Herself

Emmanuelle Béart ... Herself

Katrin Cartlidge ... Herself

Laura Dern ... Herself

Roger Ebert ... Himself

Jane Fonda ... Herself

Teri Garr ... Herself

Whoopi Goldberg ... Herself

Melanie Griffith ... Herself

Daryl Hannah ... Herself

Salma Hayek ... Herself

Holly Hunter ... Herself

Diane Lane ... Herself

Kelly Lynch ... Herself

Julianna Margulies ... Herself
Chiara Mastroianni ... Herself

Samantha Mathis ... Herself

Frances McDormand ... Herself

Catherine O'Hara ... Herself

Julia Ormond ... Herself

Gwyneth Paltrow ... Herself

Martha Plimpton ... Herself

Charlotte Rampling ... Herself

Vanessa Redgrave ... Herself

Theresa Russell ... Herself

Meg Ryan ... Herself

Ally Sheedy ... Herself

Adrienne Shelly ... Herself

Hilary Shepard ... Herself (as Hilary Shepard Turner)

Sharon Stone ... Herself

Tracey Ullman ... Herself

JoBeth Williams ... Herself

Debra Winger ... Herself

Alfre Woodard ... Herself

Robin Wright Penn ... Herself
more

Additional Details

MPAA:
Rated R for language.
Parents Guide:
Add content advisory for parents
Runtime:
France:100 min | France:97 min (Cannes Film Festival) | USA:99 min (DVD)
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Sound Mix:
Dolby Digital
Certification:
South Korea:12 | USA:R
Filming Locations:
Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France more
Company:
Immortal Entertainment more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
Screened as one of "out-of-competition" films at the Cannes Film Festival, May 2002. Director Rosanna Arquette says she made the documentary when she was struck by the fact that Debra Winger, who earned three Oscar nominations, had left the profession in her 30s. more
Quotes:
Rosanna Arquette: Why did Debra Winger leave this business? more
Movie Connections:
References The Stepford Wives (1975) more
Soundtrack:
Fell In Love At 22 more

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
22 out of 27 people found the following comment useful.
privileged beauties kvetch, 8 June 2004
Author: philip-106 from Toronto, Canada

Roseanne Arquette's personal documentary has a really great idea: several dozen top Hollywood actresses from the 70's, 80's and 90's discuss the difficulties facing women in Hollywood, particularly women over the age of forty. Interviewing them one-on-one or gathering them together in discussion groups, Arquette elicits refreshingly frank, unsanitized criticisms and confessions from some of Hollywood's outstanding actresses and beauties: Jane Fonda, Holly Hunter, Daryl Hannah, Salma Hayak, Angelica Huston, Meg Ryan, Sharon Stone, and many others including Debra Winger (who looks fabulous). The title takes its name from the idea that Winger chose to leave Hollywood at the height of her career in the 80's (though a quick check on IMDb.com shows that the actress has actually worked continuously since then.)

Roger Ebert provides a plausible - though unchallenged - explanation for the lack of good roles for women in their 40's. The audience, he explains, is thought to be comprised of young men 14-24 years old who are disinterested in films about women who might be the age of their mothers. Salma Hayak proposes a solution: she suggests that it will take powerful Hollywood women - like the ones interviewed in this documentary - to create more interesting opportunities for mature women in film.

The lack of meaningful roles for women, particularly mature women is a worthwhile subject and naturally has implications far beyond Hollywood; but Arquette's inquiry is disappointingly shallow. The documentary neglects the broader issues of our obsession with youth and beauty and women's role in society focusing exclusively on the impact of aging on Hollywood stars. (The choppy, MTV editing style and amateurish camera-work don't do a lot to elevate the topic either. But those are minor annoyances.)

At its worst, the film disintegrates into a kind of group kvetch for the over privileged. And watching these beautiful, wealthy women preen in front of paparazzi, compare jewellery, schedule dinner dates and party plans then complain that they don't have enough time to spend with their kids, well, it's kinda hard to feel a ton of sympathy....unless you, too, just happen to be a gorgeous, wealthy forty year old movie star. The irony is there for all to see but is never acknowledged: most of these actresses have clearly benefitted from the system they're now deploring; in their twenties, weren't these actresses eclipsing the previous, aging generation? So the laments come off as self-serving.

Despite these disappointments, SFDW is worth a look for its candid interviews. Debra Winger, Whoopi Goldberg and Jane Fonda are particularly good. Recommend.

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