And speaking of Fred Astaire . . . It's almost painful to see some stars grow old on screen. I can well understand Jamie Lee Curtis' statement about needing to set a date for retirement because she does not want to be a witness to herself growing old on film. Not that Astaire does not grow old gracefully -- by any
means. It's just that his aging is more pronounced because of the added dimension of his great dancing ability. I could not imagine him, in this movie, breaking into a dance over the furniture during a meeting of the Chowder Society -- and that hurts. I loved this book when it first came out. The movie does bring together some aging heavyweights, and they acquit themselves like the acting legends that they are, given the limitations of age. But if you really want to have the pants scared off of you, you gotta read the book. It's right up there with The Shining for me.
February 9, 2009
