This film was made on the anniversary of thirty years since the famous celebrity couple, who married twice, last performed together, and it was two years since the actress, to some the last living legend of the Golden Years of Hollywood, died in 2011, so a (television made) film about them made sense. Basically, set in 1983, movie stars Richard Burton (Dominic West) and Elizabeth Taylor (Helena Bonham Carter) have not seen each other for a little while, perhaps since their second divorce. They are reuniting in London for a theatrical production of the Noël Coward play Private Lives, and despite no longer being married it is obvious there may still be some form of feelings between them, both bitter and longing, but they try to continue and concentrate on work. But more than anything Richard is becoming increasingly frustrated with Elizabeth, who struggles to learn her lines having not practised them properly, failing to arrive on time for scheduled rehearsals and other occasions, and trying to upstage him to get the bigger reaction from the audiences. In the end Richard and Elizabeth go their separate ways, but they did sort out their differences and remain friends, and apparently they only communicated by telephone and letter, until his death in 1984. Also starring Being Human's Lenora Crichlow as Chen Sam, Miranda's Sarah Hadland as Kathryn Walker, William Hope as John Cullum, Michael Jibson as Mike, Lucille Sharp as Liza Todd Burton and Isabella Brazier-Jones as Maria Burton. The real Burton and Taylor were making news all the time because of their turbulent relationship, and besides their great acting talents they became part of public consciousness, and the performances by Bonham and Cooper playing them is believable and terrific, as they look and sound the parts, and it is an interesting enough story, so not a bad drama. Good!
Review of Burton and Taylor
