The Great Lillian Hall

Why I took it off the list:

The presence of the great Jessica Lange in a leading role. No matter the quality of the material, the legendary performer always brings her A-game to her performances, and this role seemed particularly tailored to her strengths as an actress.

Plus, this project makes something of a reunion for Lange with 2 of her American Horror Story alums, Kathy Bates and Lily Rabe. As a huge fan of that show and curious to see them work together outside the world of witches, ghosts, and campy terror, I decided it was essential viewing.

So, let’s dig in!

Review of The Great Lillian Hall (2024)

In The Great Lillian Hall, Lange takes on the titular role: a Broadway actress described as the ‘First Lady of American theater’ whose career spans decades and who is renowned for never having missed a performance. The character is based on Marian Seldes, the aunt of the film’s screenwriter.

As the film opens, we see the actress on stage rehearsing for her latest role, as Madame Lyubov Andreievna Ranevskaya in a production of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard.

Intercut with the scenes of the actress on stage, we see Hall merrily skipping around her apartment, reciting lines from the play. But what at first seems like an impromptu rehearsal takes on a slightly disturbing tone when she leaves the building and greets the doorman with an off-kilter line from the show.

We get a further sense that perhaps her mental faculties are not functioning quite as they should in her next rehearsal, when she begins to flub lines, messes up some blocking, and repeats earlier sections of the play.

She also begins seeing visions of her long-dead husband and has deeply troubled sleep where she thrashes around in her sheets.

Luckily, Lillian has two major sources of support to help guide her through these difficulties, her long-suffering but no-nonsense assistant Edith (Bates), and her sensitive daughter Margaret (Rabe).

Nevertheless, troubled by her uncharacteristic, off-kilter behavior, the producers become nervous and send her to a mandatory doctor’s appointment for insurance purposes. It’s here where she receives a devastating diagnosis: she has lewy body dementia.

The rest of the film focuses on Lillian’s attempts to battle the progressive symptoms of this cruel threat to her first love and livelihood, as both Edith and Margaret attempt to support her enough to get her through opening night.

Lange Is at the Top of her Game

Lange has a long history of playing actors, particularly mentally unstable ones. She was superb as the troubled titular Hollywood starlet in Frances (1982), unravelled on-screen as the ambitious yet aging circus performer Elsa Mars in American Horror Story: Freak Show, and captured the devious, manic genius of Joan Crawford in Feud: Betty and Joan.

Lange’s appreciation of the craft of acting shines through loud and clear here: she plays Lillian as a consummate professional who becomes increasingly distraught by her inability to perform to her high standards.

The regret her character feels for being a less-than-ideal mother to Margaret is also a potent thorough-line in the film. Her attempts to make amends in light of her diagnosis is touching, even as she hides her illness from her daughter.

The writing in the film is superb, delivering several thought-provoking insights into the world of the theater as the actors, crew, and producers attempt to maneuver around Lillian’s deteriorating health to get the show on.

Some of the biggest joys in the film come from the spiky interactions between Lange and Bates, who have an easy rapport thanks to their long working history.

Pierce Brosnan also makes for an unconventional confidant as Lillian’s neighbor Ty, as the two engage in a flirty not-quite-romance that’s quite charming.

The tension greatly increases throughout the back half of the picture over whether Lillian will be able to give the performance she and the audience deserves. But it all resolves in a final sequence that’s both cheer-worthy and genuinely moving.

Final score: 8/10

The Great Lillian Hall (2024): Worth Watching?

Yes, The Great Lillian Hall gives Jessica Lange a character that plays to her biggest strengths, and she delivers a fascinating, nuanced performance that’s one of her best.