Review of A Streetcar Named Desire (1951) by Josh M — 20 Jan 2010

To use my friend Ryan's rating scale, A Streetcar Named Desire is a good movie that I just didn't like. By the same token, I can't bring myself to rate it less than four simply because I intellectually recognize how "good" the movie is.

The acting is superb throughout, and even with my personal dislike of the film, Brando is absolutely magnetic here. In the end, though, I just can't get into Williams's over-the-top melodramatics.

I find Blanche grating, and while Stanley is clearly supposed to be the villain of the piece, I'm kind of with him in his frustration at Blanche's superciliousness and disgust. And yes, I know that so many people love the dialogue, but I found myself constantly thinking of the plays written by Barton Fink with their condescending view of "common" people.

I don't deny that Streetcar is a good movie, probably even a great one, and I don't disagree with people who love it. But I also can't deny that I thought it was tedious and overlong, and left me more bored than anything else.

It's nothing that the film does wrong; for me, the problem comes in my lack of affection for Williams's original play.