What's this about?

Lately, it seems like many of the movies/shows are just a rehash or reboot of things that have already been done. And so I started to dive into the past. It's been fun, but I find myself losing track of which ones I’ve seen and whether or not I enjoyed them. Sometimes the titles themselves just don't tell me enough to remember.

I wouldn’t have voluntarily watched a lot of these movies when I was younger. It’s strange how interests change. That goes for what I read, too. I have another blog that explores books. I’m mostly reading older fiction and memoirs, and some of the books have led me to movies/shows and vice versa. In those cases, I may post the book review over here as well.

There will be spoilers, which is different than my book reviews. That’s mostly because I want to have enough information to help me remember what I’ve seen. I’m getting older. The brain doesn’t cooperate like it used to. What can I say? The gray hairs are catching up with me!

Wednesday, January 31, 2024

Florence Nightingale - 1985

I was scrolling through the movies getting ready to leave Tubi and came across this one. It has Timothy Dalton in it, so I was a bit surprised I hadn't heard of it before. I've seen a lot of low-budget made for TV shows, and I'm surprised this was never recommended.

So, this follows the early years of Florence Nightingale. Her formative nursing years and her time involved with the injured men in the Crimea War.

I'm not going to say too much about this. I suppose it was okay, but it was longer than it needed to be. And for someone who never married, the movie spent an awful lot of time on her relationships. I guess they wanted to make sure that middle-aged women were watching, but they could have focused on literally anything else. The other thing that bothered me was the transitions. They had these freeze frames in sepia that would "come to life." Every time I saw one I just said, "commercial break!"

This was an underwhelming portrayal of an extraordinary woman. I'm bummed about it. I was ready to enjoy a 1980s TV movie. Whether it was corny or legitimately good, I wanted to be on board. And what happened to Dr. McGregor?! Did he make it? He didn't fawn over Florence like the other men who worshipped her and had a decent character arc for the tiny amount of time he was on screen. He was just my favorite character. Anyway, it's a couple hours I'm never getting back. I guess they can't all be winners.



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