A new documentary about the legendary actress Faye Dunaway is getting strong marks from critics in early reviews of the film.
The 83-year-old Oscar winner’s impressive career is traced in the new film Faye, directed and produced by the French–American documentarian Laurent Bouzereau.
Faye premiered this month at the Cannes Film Festival, and so far critics have praised it for tacking the eponymous actress’ infamous reputation as a ‘diva,’ which grew over time due to behind-the-scenes feuds with some of her costars and directors, though collaborators including the acclaimed director Elia Kazan and Sidney Lumet have praised her determination and artistic passion.
Even before the documentary’s premiere, its distributor HBO released an advance clip showing Dunaway ordering a crew member out of her line of sight while she filmed a commercial in 1996.
In one positive review of Faye, The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney praises the film as ‘entertaining’ while noting that Dunaway, who participated and seemingly authorized the film, was willing to expose some of her difficult behavior on set to give a fuller picture of her whirlwind career.
Faye, an HBO documentary about the legendary actress Faye Dunaway, is getting strong praise from critics in early reviews after premiering at the Cannes Film Festival this month; Dunaway seen in 1976’s Network
David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter saluted the Laurent Bouzereau–directed doc for delving into the 83-year-old star’s reputation as a ‘diva’
‘It’s surprising how candidly [Faye] digs into the star’s reputation for being temperamental and demanding,’ Rooney writes. ‘Dunaway even plays into it herself — the first words we hear are her impatiently nudging the director to roll cameras on the present-day interview that binds the many recollections and self-reflections together.’
The critic adds that, even though Dunaway has some fun with her reputation for being ‘difficult’ on set, there’s some validity to the reputation.
Faye delves into Dunaway’s history with bipolar disorder and shows how the condition — which can lead sufferers to experience manic states and bouts of depression of varying degrees — may explain some of her more infamous on-set behavior.
One of Rooney’s complaints about Faye is that the film downplays Dunaway’s status as a ‘camp icon,’ particularly via her films The Eyes Of Laura Mars, Supergirl and The Wicked Lady, which are largely ignored.
In Deadline, Pete Hammond praises the documentary as ‘highly entertaining and enlightening.’
‘Going into it I didn’t know what to expect, but what I got was a surprising, forthright and honest account of someone, as it is put in the film, who “started out as a normal person wanting to be famous, and ended up as a famous person wanting to be normal,”‘ he confesses.
Hammond notes that Dunaway confesses to regretting making Mommie Dearest, the Joan Crawford biopic from director Frank Perry that was criticized at the time for her over-the-top lead performance as the iconic actress.
However, Dunaway defends herself, claiming she was just doing what Perry and his co-screenwriters instructed her to do.
Modern audiences have been far more receptive to the film — and Perry’s filmography in general — and Mommie Dearest is now considered a cult classic and one of the high water marks in Dunaway’s filmography, even though it led to a career decline after its 1981 release.
Hammond concludes by saying Faye made him want to rewatch many of Dunaway’s greatest films.
Dunaway appears on screen for new interviews, and Rooney notes how willing she is to engage with her reputation for being ‘difficult,’ which may be related to a late-in-life diagnosis of bipolar disorder; seen with Warren Beatty in Bonnie And Clyde (1967)
One of Rooney’s complaints about Faye is that the film downplays Dunaway’s status as a ‘camp icon’ in Supergirl and The Eyes Of Laura Mars, in favor of a focus on her major hits, including Network, which earned her a Best Actress Oscar; pictured in 1977 with her award
Deadline’s Pete Hammond calls Faye ‘highly entertaining and enlightening’ and notes that Dunaway focuses on her 1981 bomb-turned-cult classic Mommie Dearest, which she considers a failure
Writing for The Times of London , Kevin Maher calls Faye ‘a must-see portrait of a misunderstood Hollywood star’; pictured with Jack Nicholson in Chinatown (1974)
Faye will debut on HBO and begin streaming on Max later in 2024; seen with her former costar Beatty at the Oscars
Writing for The Times of London, Kevin Maher calls Faye ‘a must-see portrait of a misunderstood Hollywood star.’
He calls the documentary the portrait that Dunaway ‘deserves,’ and he awards it four out of five stars.
For Next Best Picture, Matthew Turner praises the well-chosen bits of archival footage that flesh out Dunaway’s life and career, and praises Faye as ‘pleasingly thorough.’
Faye will debut on HBO and begin streaming on Max later in 2024.
