In early 1983, Elizabeth Taylor surprised pal Carol Burnett on the set of "All My Children", playing Burnett's famous charwoman from 'The Carol Burnett Show" in a cameo. Earlier in the year, they had been up in Canada filming this cable TV movie which I have been looking forward for years to sit down and watch. Unfortunately, what results from there one dramatic pairing is a sad case of stars trying something different and failing do to a lousy script that did little justice to their talents while casting them against type.
The opening sequence shows Burnett in her upstate New York home, dealing with plumbing issues while getting ready for her work day as a prestigious real estate agent. There is nothing funny about her character in this sequence as she argues with daughter Barbara Bush (no relation to the First Lady), establishing her as tough and no-nonsense. When she arrives at work, her car is hit by her next appointment, driven by a fur clad Elizabeth Taylor who wants to hire Burnet to sell her house. Burnett is immediately argumentative and accusatory, but changes her tune when she realizes the amount of money she could make from this deal. A snow storm keeps Burnet stranded overnight at Taylor's mansion, and as they get drunk off of wine while trying to remain warm, they share secrets they would not tell anybody else. It is obvious that Burnett is someone who keeps everything inside so she is rather stunned by the beginning of this new friendship. It is a good start for a film that unfortunately goes downhill right after this.
I certainly can accept Burnett as a dramatic actress, having seen several of her other TV movies where she played equally tough characters dealing with situations she could not handle. But here, the writing goes overboard for the sexuality of her character, and when one of her lovers prepares to give her a shrimp job, it becomes just a bit too much. Clad in only a towel, Burnett gives the impression that her character has a very active sex life, and certainly while attractive in a motherly way, it becomes a bit TMI to see her flaunting her need for power through sexuality.
On the other hand, the gorgeous Taylor plays a socialite having some financial issues who is tired of the social scene and wants to find a good man to settle down with. Her sexuality is much more subtle then Burnet, and the impression is actually given through girl talk between the two that Taylor wishes that part of her life could be done for good. She has an older male companion, bald and fat, hope she continues to see in spite of the fact that he makes her feel like a piece of property.
In watching this, I began to see how misandrist the script was, especially when Taylor goes out on a blind date with a man who turns out to be younger and has a rape fantasy which he shares with Taylor on their first encounter. Burnett and Taylor do what day are being paid to do, taking the direction and trying to make something out of their characters. Taylor in the first half is much more likable than Burnett, but all of a sudden, after getting a job in a local bookstore, we are supposed to believe that she goes off the deep end during a reading of Walt Whitman poems.
Certainly, people hide their issues very well, but now we are supposed to believe that Burnett sees this as a drinking problem and wants Taylor to go into rehab. The script goes all over the place and is inconsistent in characterizations and thus becomes a total disappointment. There really is no story, just a series of events between Burnett and Taylor, Burnett and her daughter, Burnett and her various lovers, and Taylor and the older man friend. For two very talented women to end up with a film like this, it's no wonder that this has fallen Into obscurity. They deserved better and I wish they had realized it when they read the script.