Kate Winslet stars as Mildred Pierce, a big budget HBO miniseries that remakes the 1945 movie that won Joan Crawford an Oscar. Back in 1931 in Glendale, Calif., Mildred struggles financially to raise her two daughters alone after her husband leaves her. Desperate for work, she takes a job as a waitress, a position her older daughter Veda looks down on.
Eventually, Mildred opens her own restaurant. It's very successful, so she opens a few more and the money starts rolling in. She has a relationship with a high society playboy named Monty, played by Guy Pearce. But no matter what she does, she just can't gain the respect of her daughter, Veda, who's rotten to the core and also quite evil.
Mildred is blinded by love for her daughter and can't see her for what she really is. She sacrifices everything for this kid, but gets little in return.
The miniseries was directed by Todd Haynes and follows the James M. Cain book more faithfully than the original 1945 movie, which took several liberties with the material. Despite this being truer to the novel, that doesn't make it more captivating to watch.
In fact, the screenwriters back in those old Hollywood days knew exactly what they were doing. Their changes to the book were way more interesting and it made for a better viewing experience. They kept the essence of the story intact, but improved on Cain's work.
Haynes' version, on the other hand, checks in at over five hours and is very slow moving. Even with its draggy pacing, the last half-hour, with its surprise twists and turns, seems unnecessarily rushed. Plus there's several unanswered questions, and with all that time to burn, that's unacceptable.
On the positive side, the acting by Winslet, Pearce, Melissa Leo and Evan Rachel Wood is quite good and the whole production is photographed magnificently, evoking the era as it spans 10 years. Production design, costumes and settings are also top-notch.
But storywise, this did not grab me, whereas the original did. In fact, if you want to do yourself a favor, skip the HBO thing and rent the Joan Crawford version, which won her an Oscar and revived her career. At under two hours, it's not only quicker but infinitely more satisfying.
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