[This is one of my golden oldies reviews - written years
ago when I was just getting started and never posted.
I stand by the conclusions, but in most cases many details
are missing that I would normally include today.]
I saw THE JOY LUCK CLUB this weekend. I loved this show, thought
it was fantastic and gave it *** 1/2. I would recommend it to anybody
who likes movies with real and vibrant people in them. What a great
show.
Now, all of that having been said, I would like to spend the rest
of this review discussing one aspect of the film. Did anyone else
notice how men were portrayed in this movie?
Men in this movie came in basically two types with few exceptions.
Either they were horrible brutes, or they were like wallpaper. Either
they were mean and cruel, or they had almost no lines at all. It was
more than just they tried, and rightly so, to emphasize the women. In
such a wonderful show why such stereotypes of men?
Given this show was about eight women who were either all married
or in relationships, I would have hoped for a little more
realistic/sympathetic/hopeful image of men. Given Oliver Stone was one
of the executive producers and given he sees the world in black/white
and good/evil, maybe that was the reason. I do not know why it was
done, but it bothered me.
Still, my strong recommendation stands, but if I could have edited
it just a bit ...
Copyright © 1993 Steve Rhodes
out of 4
