Wishful
Drinking
Carrie
Fisher never quite lived down to her initial fame. Every time we
figured we had her figured out, she surprised us by exposing some new
wrinkle to her personality. She was never merely a daughter of famous
parents, nor was she merely a space opera heroine, nor a rock star's
ex-wife, nor a famous manic depressive (as she points out here, her picture
is actually in the bi-polar handbook).
She has also turned out to be a very
talented writer (with several hit novels like Postcards from the Edge),
a surprisingly witty comic performer.
Wishful Drinking
is a filmed performance of
Fisher's highly personal one-woman show - loosely based on her book of the
same name - which takes a smart and funny look at her rather extraordinary
life.
From
her introduction ("I'm Carrie Fisher and I'm an alcoholic") to her comically
melodramatic exit (she is removed from the theater on a stretcher and driven
off in a waiting ambulance), Fisher shows a self-awareness and a
self-deprecation which is both surprising and surprisingly entertaining.
Whether
the subject is scandalous (her parents' merry-go-round of marriages) or edgy
(her acknowledgment that George Lucas has been exploiting her likeness for
most of her adult life) to personal (her two failed marriages and
experiences with electro-shock therapy), Fisher is always refreshingly
candid and often gut-bustingly funny.
No
matter how serious things get she keeps it light. As she points out
early on, in life you eventually hit a point that you have the distance that
what was tragic somehow becomes funny.
It's
nice to see that Fisher has reached this point. The writing is sharp
and knowing and yet warm and humorous - of course Fisher has proven herself
to be an even more talented writer than an actor over the last few decades.
Her timing and delivery is spot on. If Fisher decided on yet another
life reinvention, stand-up comic would be within her grasp.
The
idea of a one-person show is always a dicey affair on film. Without
the distractions of other characters and settings, the shows can really drag
out of the context of the theater unless the material is really first rate.
The 75
minutes of Wishful Drinking sprinted by, leaving you hungry for more.
Fisher is truly a fine hostess. The show is confessional without being
uncomfortable, irreverent without being trite, serious without being
self-pitying.
It seems that being
herself truly is Carrie Fisher's greatest role.
(Note: Despite the fact that this is listed in
the "Available at Your Video Store" section, at the time of this posting the
movie is only available as a documentary running on HBO. It is almost
inevitable that it will be released on DVD, but there is no official release
date set.)
Jay S. Jacobs
Copyright ©2010 PopEntertainment.com.
All rights reserved. Posted: December 10, 2010.
