LeonardKniffel Review of The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone

The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone (2003 TV Movie)

Interesting but disappointing

[6/10 · 20 September 2020]

Missing in this 21st century update of the Tennessee Williams drama first filmed in 1961 is believable context and character development. Ostensibly set in Rome just after World War II, it is hopelessly lost in its own guilt-ridden version of the playwright's own repressed sexuality, which seems to have had little to do with women. As the plot thickens, so does Anne Bancroft's accent and Helen Mirren's head. The film's ending is so disappointing as to be unbelievable and leaves you to wonder why anyone felt it was necessary to film an update that portrays a weak-willed widow who feels washed up at the age of 50 and willing to humiliate herself to a baffling degree. Mirren is a brilliant and daring actress, but watching her writhe around in a car with a young gigolo and then ask him if he loves her was just embarrassing. You wanted her to tell him to get lost. If that isn't bad enough, we are then forced see her take up with a man whose odor alone would have been enough to sicken anyone.