Review of Postcards from the Edge (1990) by Matty S — 24 Jul 2014

A lot of it was kept under wraps until the publication of her semi-autobiographical novel, but Carrie Fisher led one of the more interesting lives in Hollywood during the early years of her life and career. That new novel is now a film called "Postcards From the Edge", with a screenplay by Fisher as well, and while there is plenty to admire here, the film version suffers from a severe split personality.

The opening moments are quite good, with Fisher's on-screen alter-ego personified here by Meryl Streep overdosing and being committed to a treatment facility. Streep is very good in those scenes, at first denying her substance abuse problem before admitting them to her herself and those around her. Those wonderful dramatic moments, however, are soon there after interspersed with more lighthearted moments and that's where my problem with the picture lies.

Taken separately, the comedy and the drama both work, they just don't mesh well together. In perhaps the film's best scene, the mood is perfectly set. It's the wonderfully melancholy moment in which Streep sings the Ray Charles classic "You Don't Know Me", and the wistfulness of that instance is never captured again. It finds just the right tone.

The behind-the-scenes Hollywood stuff is terrific as well, as director Mike Nichols systematically shatters the illusion of filmmaking, and the vast array of glorified cameos are fun as well. "Postcards From the Edge" often feels like two very different movies at war with one another. The dramatic film should have won.