Rock Hudson's Home Movies

Thanks to critics like J. Hoberman of the Village Voice, Peter Travers of Rolling Stone, and Dave Kehr of the Chicago Tribune--to mention a few--the gap between what critics say and what sensible people see on the screen continues to grow. Named one of the 10 best films of the year by the Village Voice, Mark Rappaport's tiresomely juvenile Rock Hudson's Home Movies is a one-note film that perks your interest for the initial five minutes and then bores you comatose for the remaining sixty. Hudson, whose death from AIDS in 1985 focused long-overdue attention on the disease, is played by actor Eric Farr, who takes us through an interminably long series of Hudson's film clips. Was the actor hinting at his homosexuality all along? Hard to say, since the film routinely presents scenes out of context, and spends most of its time talking back to Hudson's co-actors (lots of barbs aimed at Doris Day and Tony Randall). Of course, these are the ultimate straw men: actors and actresses reciting lines written by someone else--thespians, including Hudson, whose scenes are manipulated by a filmmaker who apparently needs to resolve a few issues internally. While the occasional clip of Hudson playing the stereotype of an effeminate male (Hollywood's idea of gay in the late 50s and 60s) is ironic and interesting, too much of Rock Hudson's Home Movies is personal bitchiness without the catty humor that would make it tolerable. Not recommended. (R. Pitman)