Mrs. Harris (2006)

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

it is the rare 'crazy' movie that actually has something to say.

It is so daring, it is so ambitious, it is so thrilling and weird and pointed and powerful. I never knew where it was going.

Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

For anyone who remembers the shooting of the Scarsdale Diet Doctor at the hands of the school mistress from Madeira, the fancy girl's school in Potomac, MD, this film is a soap opera scandal which should have been allowed to rest in yellowing newspaper clippings (though those are probably on line now in incorruptible digits). Annette Bening is Mrs. Harris, the abandoned and lovelorn teacher. Bening is a fine actress and while she succeeds in bringing her character to life, all that is accomplished is to demonstrate once again that Mrs. Harris was pathetic. Kingsley has much less to work with and all he is able to demonstrate is that Herman (Hy) Tarnower was an unmitigated son-of-a-bitch, which we already knew. Why did Ellen Burstyn and Cloris Leachman allow themselves to be roped into this? One assumes for the money, certainly not the art. Could this have been a better picture? Given the facts of the case, which are reproduced more or less as they were presented at the time, I would guess not. Neither of the principals has much of a back story to be unpacked and, while the details of the murder made headlines for days at the time, at the end of the day it's merely a sad, sordid, essentially uninvolving tale.

This one-sided retelling of the sensational murder trial was a total waste of talent. It is galling to see Sir Ben Kingsley wasting his time in this "Woman as victim" soap opera. Dr. Tarnower was portrayed as a cruel, sadistic womanizer wiping his feet on the poor schoolmistress. Jean Harris was portrayed as a tragic victim driven to desperation by her lover's cruelty. At least they did mention that she had walked out on her husband before meeting Dr. Tarnower.The film ignored the fact that Dr. Tarnower was a confirmed bachelor and did not want children, and had told Jean Harris right at the beginning. He apparently was quite happy to wine, dine, and take his lady friends to social occasions and on trips to exotic locations as long as they did not expect him to marry them. Unfortunately, Jean wanted the goodies AND marriage. Had they married, she would probably have been throughly miserable.As the diet book became a best seller and he became a celebrity doctor, Jean may have felt she was being left behind, especially as she was being passed over for promotion at the school. The similarity to the murder of successful playwright Joe Orton by his companion of many years, Kenneth Halliwell struck me. Orton was murdered in a fit of jealousy by Halliwell who's career was not taking off, while Orton was the celebrated darling of swinging London.The film briefly skipped over a 14 year relationship and a lengthy trial. I just wish that we could have seen more of Dr. Tarnower's side of the story, and a little of Jean Harris's sojourn in prison.

... Is among her best work: it is nuanced, studied and whip-smart. She has a flair for bone-dry humor that is on full display here.HBO continues to show that it is the go-to network for actresses over a certain age, providing them with some bravura roles. Jean Harris could have easily descended into caricature and vapidness, but Bening finds her heart.When I first saw that the film was being made (it was first made for television with Ellen Burstyn as Jean in 1980), I thought "why again?" but the filmmakers have proved their case: the film works on every level, but especially the performances. They are compulsively watchable.Her performance is expertly modulated and as the film unwinds she becomes very human: her crime is not such a surprise and her motives seem justified.The actresses interplay with Kingsley is a wonder to behold. If you are a fan of singular acting, this will be worth your while.Mary McDonnell, Philip Baker Hall, Brett Butler, Frances Fisher, Cloris Leachman and the original Harris, Burstyn, all show up for great cameos. This is not a film you will ever see in a theater, HBO has cornered the market on interesting, vital character studies.

I thought it was interesting, and I loved Annett Bening's work in it. Without it, there wouldn't be much to the movie. The line when she tells him to stop hurting so many women and just hurt her, is worthy of awards in itself. If there was any issue, it was with the writing. There was a lack of completion. I think it's because they really only have Jean Harris' account of what happened. I never believe people when they say that they were trying to kill themselves, but killed another person by accident, and were never able to kill themselves. But sometimes you have to sympathize with women who are mistreated so callously. I feel like their life was very much like it was portrayed: crazy. 8/10. Some good HBO Entertainment.