MILDRED PIERCE—-THE LOOONG VERSION

Back in 1946 a movie named Mildred Pierce was the talk of the Oscars. Its star Joan Crawford won the Best Actress Oscar and the film earned five other nominations.

Winslet

The story of a woman who proves she can be successful and independent after her husband leaves her but cannot win the approval of her spoiled daughter, it ran for 111 tense and gripping minutes.
Now Hollywood has got its hands on it and is retelling the story for television. But this time it has been stretched and elongated to run for a marathon 350 minutes— five hours, 50 minutes of HBO peak time viewing over three nights–with that very British star Kate Winslet in the title role.

Crawford

Having seen an advance screening I can report that it is worth seeing and Kate Winslet, who is in virtually every scene, does an admirable job.
But 350 minutes? It would be quicker to read the classic James M. Cain 1941 novel on which it is based.

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