Mommie Dearest

Mommie Dearest is a 1981 biographical film directed by Frank Perry. It is based on the 1978 autobiography of the same name, written by Christina Crawford about the abuse she and her siblings suffered from her adoptive mother, actress Joan Crawford.

Plot
Christina Crawford, the adoptive daughter of actress Joan Crawford, suffers horrific and traumatizing abuse at the hands of her mother.

Bad Qualities

 * 1) The movie's premise: a girl being abused by her crazy mother, isn't really appealing to many audiences.
 * 2) Bad directing:
 * 3) * Scenes are either too short or just drag on for too long.
 * 4) * There are too many time skips.
 * 5) * The movie's mood changes way too rapidly.
 * 6) The film's campy tone makes the subject matter hard to take seriously.
 * 7) Cheesy and bizarre dialogue, like "NO WIRE HANGERS", "I'm mad at the dirt", and "DON'T FUCK WITH ME, FELLAS".
 * 8) Bad acting from everyone except Faye Dunaway.
 * 9) * Even then, Faye Dunaway overacts to a hilarious degree.
 * 10) * Mara Hobel and Diana Scarwid especially stand out regarding their performances as the child and adult versions of Christina Crawford respectively with the former speaking in a New York accent and the latter speaking in a strong Southern accent despite the real Christina being born and raised in Los Angeles.
 * 11) The film's production was troubled:
 * 12) * The cast and crew had trouble dealing with Faye Dunaway's method of acting.
 * 13) * Dunaway suffered severe psychological and physical damage from the role, at one point collapsing due to exhaustion, and damaging her vocal cords yelling.
 * 14) * At the same time, Dunaway gained a reputation for being a diva, constantly making demands and taking away focus from the other actors.
 * 15) The terrible reception damaged Faye Dunaway's career.

Good Qualities

 * 1) The movie is great as an unintentional comedy. Paramount got the idea and began advertising it as such later on.
 * 2) Overall, if one looks past the cheesy acting, a lot of things Joan does and the way she acts are genuinely scary.

Videos
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Critical Reception

 * Although a box office hit, the film was savaged by critics, and it won multiple categories in the 2nd Golden Raspberry Awards, and was ultimately awarded the title of Worst Picture of the Decade at the 10th Golden Raspberry Awards.
 * Over time, however, critics have warmed to the film, noting that while it wasn't a great film, it was still entertaining due to its campiness and Faye Dunaway's acting.