Review of Eyes of Laura Mars (1978) by Drew S — 29 Sep 2010

The Eyes of Laura Mars begins with legitimate promise, itching at the surface of this New York art-or-trash aesthetic that sort of serves as an interesting mirror for the movie itself. It seems to have a few smart ideas about the scene it deals with, ideas that quickly fizzle out to give way to a disappointingly generic slasher. Perhaps the most exciting part of the film is how batshit hysterical Faye Dunaway is - she isn't necessarily bad, pulling some sympathy out of us and displaying some pretty exemplary dialogue timing, but she hits astronomically over-the-top heights during her chase scenes. She's just not meant to be a scream queen, not especially with her hilarious wounded-seal hollering. Eventually even my derision of the film grew unappealing as it made its way toward a predictable ending propped up on some really shitty psychodrama. Still, The Eyes of Laura Mars has some surprises up its sleeve, mostly in its first half hour, when it promises to say something insightful about art and death but mostly just ends up acknowledging that they both exist. The photo shoots themselves, often accompanied by music that must have been too cool in 1978, are entertainingly lurid (though not even remotely objectionable or violent as this movie's world seems to think they are). And that cast is fun; Rene Auberjonois is a special treat, camping it up something fierce as Dunaway's ambiguously gay agent, and Brad Dourif is befuddling as her hobo driver. Tommy Lee Jones is also hilarious as possibly the ugliest cop I've ever had a movie tell me was hot. Check that unibrow, dude.

Not imperative viewing. Worth it if you're really running low on your late-70s thrillers, which I don't think you ever will be.