Writing in VL-5/86, I said that: "Director Fred Schepisi has done a top-notch job of translating David Hare's critically acclaimed stage play of existential madness. Meryl Streep is Susan Traherne, a British courier in France during WWII who, as the film opens, is thrown together with a British spy who saves her life, sleeps with her, and leaves her (all within a day). This single moment lived on the edge with a stranger becomes the yardstick by which she measures the rest of her life. Returning to the regular work-a-day British world, Susan begins to impulsively seduce men and then abandon them (re-enacting the act which left a deep psychological scar). But one man, a quiet, dedicated foreign diplomat (a fine job by Charles Dance) refuses to give up, and carries Susan with him into the upper class life: lovely houses, extravagant dinners, exotic locales. But for Susan, all this 'plenty' cannot equal one moment of intensity; her madness finally drives her to search out the stranger from her past. Truly one of the more intelligent films of the year, it deserves a wider audience." Although previously available on DVD, this new release--which sports a very good transfer and solid Dolby Digital 2.0 sound--includes an interesting 17-minute interview with director Schepisi (Last Orders), who comments on adapting the play, the performances of the actors, and his love of CinemaScope. Highly recommended. (R. Pitman)
Plenty
Anchor Bay, 129 min., R, DVD: $19.98 Volume 17, Issue 4
Plenty
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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