Review of The Rose (1979) by Lee M — 19 Oct 2014

A Triumph! The Rose was better than I could ever expect. Going into it I already had an extreme love for Bette Midler so I knew I would at least enjoy her but wow, what a performance. This is one of the greatest performances I have seen in any movie my entire life up there with Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight, Meryl Streep in Doubt, and Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs.

She was heartbreaking, funny, a hot mess, and a dominate force the whole movie and just takes comand of every scene she is in. The musical numbers are so fun and amazing but the scenes where Midler is on her own breaking down about everyone that has left her in her life are just powerful.

The supporting cast are wonderful as well but Midler just blew the roof off. I loved Sally Field in Norma Rae but that Oscar definitely deserved to go to Midler. I wish Midler was still doing a bunch of movies because she really deserves an Oscar.

And the writing is just outstanding I can't believe that it didn't get nominated. Plus the soundtrack is amazing, her opening "Meet Me in Memphis", her cover of "When a Man Loves a Woman", her heartbreaking finale "Stay With Me", and credits song "The Rose" are tour de force.

I don't use the word "triumph" a lot to describe many movies but wow is this movie a triumph. I loved every second, every frame, every breathe out of this movie. This is definitely being added somewhere to my list of favorite movies.