The Elephant Man
1980, Brooksfilms
Co-produced by Mel Brooks, co-written and directed by David Lynch, and starring John Hurt and Anthony Hopkins, The Elephant Man was a major critical and commercial success. But some weren't taken in by this high-brow freak show, which comes off as self-consciously self-important, and fails to provide us with much in the way of a message or even a purpose, other than celebrate Hurt's remarkable performance (with the make-up imposing such a strain that he could only perform every other day). The black-and-white photography made it seem that much more pretentious.
DKS 12/19/17
GRUMPY OLD FART-O-METER® Rating:
