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Rating: 5 out of 5
Oh, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? Thank you for being the film that has opened up my eyes once again for me, always believing on why I shouldn’t get married. Thank you for being a film that shows two marriages and how one is so dysfunctional that it is crazy to watch. Thank you for being a film that if I do have a significant other, we will probably never go to someone’s house after a party because there can be some crazy things to follow. Plus, now I know where some movies get their scenes from and the true meaning behind them. I will say this, Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? It is quite honestly one of the best films to watch a married couple complain about themselves in ways that I have never seen before. Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton steal this movie and show the world that being married isn’t all that cracked up to be.
Directed by Mike Nichols. The screenplay by Ernest Lehman, that is an adaptation of the play of the same name by Edward Albee. The film centers around the very volatile, strange, and over the top marriage of middle-aged couple George (Burton) and his oh so loving wife, Martha (Taylor). George is an associate professor of history at a small New England college. His “loving” wife, Martha, is the daughter of the university president. After a night of partying, the couple returns home drunk as skunks. Martha reveals to George that she invited a young couple to come over for drinks that she met at the party. At freakin’ 2:30 am, Nick and his lovely wife Honey arrive. Nick is a biology professor, but Martha thinks he is a math professor. As the four of them drink, Martha and George engage in some of the most scathing verbal abuse the world has ever seen. As the night progresses, the young couple soon realized that they are about to become entangled in the match of wills between George and his oh so loving wife, Martha.
Virginia Woolf is once again a film that really makes you contemplate marriage, love, hate, and everything else. It is definitely a thin line between love and hate. Now the story is actually quite entertaining. The chemistry and interaction between Taylor and Burton are the highlights that revolve around their bizarre and dysfunctional marriage. My god is their marriage so dysfunctional that it is insane to watch. How are these two people still married to each other. They don’t like each other. The whole night is pretty much who can get under someone’s skin more in some type of crazy game.
Just the antagonizing alone between Martha and George is just insane. Martha, with her whole, “George, you ain’t nothing but a broke a**, mama’s boy.” Martha is straight-up aggressive in her attacks of George. George usually responds in a passive-aggressive way. One that seems way to intellectual for Martha’s mind. Sometimes his comebacks go over her head. That is almost half the movie. Just Martha and George arguing with each other with Nick and Honey looking on awkwardly. Martha tells an embarrassing story about how she humiliated George in front of her father, and George breaks a bottle while blaming it on brandy.
There is one scene I want to talk about. It is the whole shotgun scene. I have seen this scene in other movies, and finally, I know where the source of the scene. The one where Martha is running her mouth and George sneaks up behind her with a shotgun pointed at her head. He pulls the trigger showing it is a fake gun. Talk about a scene where you always want to shoot your spouse and then use a fake gun. I literally saw that scene in a new movie. It was crazy to see.
Also, why the hell didn’t Nick and Honey just roll out? If I was watching that craziness, I would’ve rolled out a long time ago. The couple seemed nice, but Nick sure did drop a bombshell while Honey seemed like an airhead. Girl just wanted to dance. Yet, Nick and Honey’s relation is on the pathway of being more jacked up than Martha and George.
Elizabeth Taylor is the absolute and undisputed star of this film. Taylor commands the screen and everything around her as Martha. Taylor was relentless with her character as she just straight antagonized her husband over and over again. One might think she was doing her own personal life as Taylor was married six or seven times. I will say this, she had her “Damn girl! You lookin’ FINE!” moment as she stood at the doorway. She might’ve been looking rough around the edges, but Taylor pulled off some major sex appeal in the film.
Richard Burton, as George, does a perfect job, but it is quite hard to keep up with Taylor in this film. Yet he seemed to go toe to toe with Taylor as she just ripped him a new one half the time. I will say that Burton played George perfectly. If you can’t argue with a person, you might as well use your brain and outsmart them with knowledge and facts. It was a low blow to talk about the son to win the game.
Sandy Dennis was excellent as Honey and almost stole the show during the second half of the film. She was loud, funny, and fun to watch. Dennis played Honey as a total airhead. I almost thought she didn’t have one thought in her head. I didn’t know if she was just drunk or playing around.
Finally, George Segal as Nick was aight. He wasn’t my favorite, nor did I think he was any good. He was just okay. Yea, he had some scenes where he dropped his bombshell, but pretty much, he was only around. Well, he did try to hook up with Martha but failed dramatically.
What is the overall impression of this film? It is terrific if you love that drama between a husband and a wife. Taylor is absolutely fantastic as the ever-loving Marth. Burton also holds his own against Taylor. Love is a great and powerful thing to watch, even if you can’t stand your spouse.
