It's hard to do a review of a movie where the real life events are so tragic AND this movie is sad from the start because you know how it's gonna play out. I will say though that I have seen this many times and that it is a very well done, terrifically acted movie. Obviously, no matter how good this movie was I'd prefer it not to have ever been made because I'd prefer the real life events this is based on, never to have happened at all. Since it WAS made, however I can say without a doubt that the main cast members do their job-Roberts makes you hate,dispise him with a passion and Hemmingway is fragile, lovely and achingly sweet. I have no doubt how easy it was to get swept up in the glamourous lifestyle Stratton lived, I think most people would have myself included. Seeing the story enfold as it did, and knowing the final outcome, it's hard not to yell at the screen at the end,even knowing that you can't go back in time and change the events that happened. Dorothy Stratten was young and lovely and kindhearted and had her whole life in front of her-it's hard to say one "enjoyed" a movie where the ending was so tragic and in this case true so I won't say that. But it IS a movie I have seen more then once and would recomend wholeheartedly. VERY very welldone.

When director Bob Fosse set out to make a movie about murdered Playboy Playmate Dorothy Stratten, he obviously saw much of the main plot-potential in Stratten's deranged husband/manager Paul Snider...and, distressingly, that's who he seems to identify with throughout. The picture's narrative is immediately shaky because Fosse has no interest in seeing both sides; Stratten is just a pawn in the proceedings. Fosse views Snider as a derailed dreamer who thought he finally found fame and fortune (via his wife),and the built-in apologia for Snider's behavior feels sleazy. Eric Roberts is hard to take as Snider, spitting out his lines while twisting his face in rage, while poor Mariel Hemingway is hardly given a chance (and when her moments come, she's sluggish and unsure). The editing is fairly tight, going back and forth in time while creating palpable dread, though the bloody flash-forwards are numbing, and Fosse's documentary style (derivative from his "Lenny") eventually exhausts itself. What was Fosse's point? That Paul Snider was the ultimate victim? Absurd! ** from ****

In 1978 Vancouver, Dorothy Stratten (Mariel Hemingway) is a teenager working at a Dairy Queen. She falls under the influence of narcissist scheming con-man Paul Snider (Eric Roberts). He takes Polaroids of her nude and sends them to Playboy. Hugh Hefner (Cliff Robertson) is taken with her and she rises to be the centerfold in the August '79 issue. As she gains more success, his possessiveness drives him mad with jealousy.

While Hemingway is the title character, this is Eric Roberts' movie. She is very capable as an innocent. He is doing the heavy lifting. He makes this a difficult watch. It's uncomfortable and disturbing not in a fun way. He is super creepy without any rooting interest. Legendary choreographer Bob Fosse steps out to direct this. He has a very intriguing list of directing work and shows that he is drawn to edgy material. This is not for everyone and I suggest a long shower to wash away the Eric Roberts of it all.