'Faye' Review
Academy Award winning actress Faye Dunaway is the star of many iconic movies, including “Network”, “Bonnie and Clyde”, “Chinatown” and “Mommie Dearest”. As we see over the course of 90-minute documentary “Faye”, available on HBO and Max, she’s had a lot of great roles throughout her career. And you can tell in her storytelling, through the grit and confidence in her voice as she’s looking back on her life, that Dunaway has always been passionate about the craft of acting.
In the doc, directed by Laurent Bouzereau, Dunaway also addresses her “difficult” reputation and what many actors, directors and crew members have said about working with her over the years. She attributes some of that to a fairly recent bipolar diagnosis and depression. Her son Liam shares his perspective on it all (and has a bit too much of a presence in the documentary).
There aren’t many other people who are interviewed in “Faye”, but there’s definitely a highlight interviewee in Sharon Stone. The “Basic Instinct” and “Casino” leading lady talks about how she formed a friendship with the slightly older Dunaway. There’s kind of a ‘veteran actress / younger actress coming up’ dynamic and mentorship that’s pretty interesting.
From a filmmaking perspective, “Faye” is a little basic and standard, especially putting a focus on archival photos. But the decades of on-set stories are fun, candid and revealing. Dunaway has a lot to say about the industry, the characters and the fashion. We go through her filmography and understand much more about this fascinating silver screen icon, including her inspirations and approaches to the Joan Crawford role that many love and just as many love to hate.
While not as strong as some of the other celebrity docs that have already been released this year, “Faye” is enjoyable and worth watching if you’re a classic films fan.
