Despite some good acting, "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool" is not easy to watch with it's downbeat tone and difficult subject matter. The film, which focuses on the relationship between a young actor, Peter Turner (Jamie Bell) and his much older (and more famous) lover, Oscar-winning Gloria Grahame (Annette Bening), spends too little time establishing their relationship to understand the pain that results when Peter becomes Gloria's caregiver. Most of the film jumps back and forth in time, showing various stages of their affair and creating lots of confusion in chronology and plot.
Because the script is based on Peter Turner's memoir, director Paul McGuigan concerns himself with the cliches of the May-December romance and of a love story cut down by illness rather than focusing on Grahame in the last days of her life. The film shows little interest in the inner workings of a relationship that's defined by unusual circumstances. And when Turner brings Grahame home to his working-class family, his parents are incredibly unperturbed by their son's relationship with a troubled, much older, legend. This movie belongs to Bening as she imbues Grahame with self-awareness, dignity and desperation. She is a complex character and not entirely sympathetic. Unfortunately, Bening and Bell lack the chemistry to transcend the film's weaknesses, including Bell's rather bland performance. "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool" is a basic biopic and I wouldn't rush out to see it.
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