Review of Bus Stop (1956) by Brett C — 25 Sep 2014

Review In A Nutshell:

Aside from River of No Return and Niagara, most of the films I have seen that features Marilyn Monroe, have been comedies, therefore I think it is fair for me to feel surprised by Bus Stop. This film does have comedic elements but the story drives its audience to such a dark place that one could easily forget the lightly toned scenes that preceded it. I was not able to fully invest myself with this film, and a lot of that is due to the core protagonist of the film being difficult to empathise with.

Bus Stop's screenplay was written by George Axelrod, and was based off a play by William Inge. So far I have seen three films written by Axelrod, including this one; the other two films were Breakfast at Tiffany's and The Seven Year Itch. I am disappointed to say that, none of these films have impressed me in regards to their storytelling. They seem to feature a captivating premise but fail to deliver something impacting. Bus Stop had potential to explore and contrast ideas of city and country, innocence and arrogance, and most importantly respect; these were elements that were floating during the first hour of the film, and by the time it hits its third act, it has yet delivered anything that deemed valuable. The film does promote heavily on the idea of respect and genuine romance during the third act, but the sequence that the writers have chosen felt out of place and a little forced; it attempts so hard and swiftly to reverse everything that was mistakenly conducted by our protagonist, that the film never truly earns it. If the film was not so aggressive in antagonizing our leading man, then I would have probably enjoyed this one more, even if it plays out too safely.

I cannot believe my eyes when I saw that Don Murray, who plays the film's antagonizing leading man, Beauregard Deckard, or simply Bo, earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance in this film. It was awful, right from the start, he delivered his dialogue in such a revolting way, that I wanted to vomit. I understand that his role is meant to symbolise the innocence and arrogance of youth, but I have seen many actors, even child-actors, from Old Hollywood perform better than that. Though in saying this, it did make it easy for me to feel distant towards him, whom the film intends to achieve by the time it reaches its climax, but since the film requires me to forgive him at the end, my feelings towards his performance turned for worse. Murray also was completely off in his physical appearance, I found it difficult to be convinced that he is a 21 year old boy, instead I saw a man-child in his 40s, having a tantrum. I think a person who deserved more acclaim is Marilyn Monroe. Monroe's performance in Bus Stop may not be deserving of an Academy Award nomination and it may not be the best role she has played, but one cannot deny that this was an effective one. Monroe has surprised me in films like River of No Return, taking risks with roles that do not rely on what she inherently has and delivering substance in her performance, even if it is just a little. Watching her performance in this film, allowed me to see shades of her that I never thought she had, which was something the film's posters and trailers fail to acknowledge.

Bus Stop fails hard in its ability to tell an effective coming of age story and presents its audience with a character so unlikeable that any attempts in redemption would be futile. The only reason I would consider coming back to seeing this film is the performance that Monroe was able to brilliantly deliver.