New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

I've known about Cat on a Hot Tin Roof for quite a while and have always been somewhat interested in seeing it, but something always kept my interest at bay. I'm not sure what I expected, but what I got was a fabulous film.

At its heart, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof - a Best Picture nominee at the Oscars in 1959 - is a simple story about a crumbling marriage, family politics, and the relationships between fathers and sons.

Brick (Paul Newman) and Maggie (Elizabeth Taylor) seem to be in a loveless marriage, only staying with each other for convenience and to keep up appearances. They visit Brick's parent's estate to celebrate Big Daddy's (Burl Ives) birthday. Also in attendance are Big Mama (Judith Anderson), Brick's older brother Gooper (Jack Carson), Gooper's wife Mae (Madeleine Sherwood), and their brood of annoying, bratty children.

In addition to celebrating Big Daddy's birthday, they're also celebrating good news from Big Daddy's doctor - the patriarch is not deathly ill, as was feared, but rather only has a mild stomach illness. It's revealed rather quickly, to everyone except Big Daddy, the doctor has lied to his patient and that Big Daddy does have terminal cancer and isn't expected to survive the year.

This revelation causes much in-fighting between Gooper, Mae, and Maggie in regards to what will happen with Big Daddy's fortune, including his massive land and business holdings. Maggie just wants to make sure that Gooper doesn't cut Brick out of the family business, but Brick is too busy drinking away his sorrows to care much about it.

Adapted from the Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by the legendary Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is filled with interesting characters with bizarre names or nicknames. It's a very small point, but I did have some trouble taking people called Brick, Gooper, Big Daddy, Big Mama and Sister Woman (Mae's oft-cited nickname) seriously. Even Maggie has a nickname - "the Cat", where the film gets its title. I guess these types of names were common in the South during the time, but as a modern "Yankee,” they all seemed a little silly to me.

Like I said, though, that's a small qualm. The characters themselves are so interesting, so well written that I was immediately pulled into the story. One of the things I really liked about the writing was how three-dimensional all the characters were. Everyone is flawed, everyone is at times likable and unlikable, and everyone grows as the film goes on.

Continued:       1       2       3       4       5