Movie Review - Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (1966)

Starring Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton, George Segal, and Sandy Dennis

Directed by Mike Nichols

Having seen Edward Albee's Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf recently on Broadway (review), when I saw this pop up during Turner Classic Movies' 31 Days of Oscar, I had to check it out.  I'm not going to delve into anything much here in this sorry excuse for a review except to say that while this movie was well acted and nicely directed, there's something a bit more magical about watching a quartet of actors onstage than onscreen.  Don't get me wrong -- Elizabeth Taylor (in only the second thing I've seen her in) is great as the drunken Martha and her real-life hubby Richard Burton is also strong has her onscreen hubby George.  Still, there's something invigorating about this story unfolding onstage.

That said, one of my qualms about the story while staged -- why the hell didn't party guests Nick and Honey (played here by George Segal and Sandy Dennis) get up and leave this disaster of a nightcap get-together?  In the film, with the luxury of being able to open things up beyond a single set, George and Martha actually attempt to take the duo home via car and while the quartet eventually returns to their original location, it still made a bit more sense to me than in the play.

I also must point out that while it certainly might have been that I had just seen the play a mere two weeks before watching the film, but I felt like I needed the intermissions that the play provided to let things sink in.  As a film, despite being nearly an hour shorter than the play, it dragged on a bit, and I found myself longing for the respite that a play can sometimes provide.

The film also makes the somewhat ambiguous ending onstage much clearer and foreshadows the conclusion a few times throughout so as to leave the audience completely aware of what they witnessed rather than have them questioning anything.  Admittedly, I'm not sure which I liked better.  I enjoyed leaving the stage production wondering if "I got it."  Turns out, I did.

The RyMickey Rating:  B-