Fans of the Divine Miss M will certainly enjoy this opportunity to listen to her famous friends--including Barry Manilow, Danny DeVito, Barbara Hershey, and Bruce Vilanch--rave about how wonderful she is, interspersed with clips from her performances on both stage and screen. But it's hard to imagine general audiences getting caught up in the conventional rags-to-riches story revealed in this profile that originally aired on A&E's Biography series. From her rough childhood in Hawaii to the tough times she encountered on her rise to glory in New York City, this "revealing" documentary doesn't actually reveal much of anything, and regardless of how unquestionably talented Midler is, there's nothing in this bland, press-release-level version of her life story that offers any great insight into Midler's creative personality. As befits the fans-only appeal, DVD extras here include extended interviews, deleted scenes, and complete performances of "From a Distance" and "Do You Wanna Dance?". Although the accompanying sell-sheet advises retailers to "file under Music DVD," there's more talk than music here and those expecting to hear a full concert will be disappointed. Optional. Aud: P. (M. Johanson)
The Divine Bette Midler
(2004) 135 min. DVD: $19.98. Shout! Factory (avail. from most distributors). Color cover. ISBN: 0-7389-3186-1. Volume 20, Issue 5
The Divine Bette Midler
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.
Order From Your Favorite Distributor Today: