Inspired by the record-breaking Broadway hit that sold out for 15 straight months in New York City before being voted Best Touring Play of 2006, Tony award-winning playwright William Gibson's reflection on the life of Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir stars Valerie Harper as one of the most important female politicians of the 20th century. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi
Jeremy Kagan's green-screen filmization, in its over-busy editing, ever-changing angles and constantly shifting backdrops, strips the play of its starkness, leaving disproportionate schmaltz and propaganda.
We chart the growth of a woman and a country at the same time, a tough assignment that Harper tackles with humor and passion (even if her Kissinger impersonation could use a little work).
The big question is whether Harper's one-woman film creates a memorable character out of a woman with whom many audiences will be very familiar. The answer has to be no.
Fortunately, no amount of optical wizardry and quick-change trickery can disguise the fundamental power of Harper's performance, a revelatory turn that's transformative in every sense of the term.
A good performance of a landmark Broadway play will barely be enough to bring audiences to this one. But the history alone is worth the price of admission.
Not only is this poignant portrait of Golda Meir riveting and powerful, it also reminds and enlightens us about the origins of the current Middle East conflict.
This shamelessly uncritical view of Golda, her world perspective, and the period of Middle Eastern history over which she presided as a major player, confuses the protagonist's point of view with the reality. Grandmother or godfather?
In a film equivalent of the one-woman show, Harper gives a riveting perfromance as Golda, Israel's beloved politician, while also playing scores of characters, from the stern Kissinger to the womanizing Moshe Dayan (does he remove his eye patch in bed?)
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