Garbo Talks

1984 "Sometimes you can catch a star..."
6.4| 1h43m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 12 October 1984 Released
Producted By: United Artists
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

When New York accountant Gilbert Rolfe finds out his mother has a brain tumor, he is devastated. His incorrigible mother, Estelle, has one last wish: to meet the great Greta Garbo. Gilbert, wanting to do this last thing for her, sets out on a wild goose chase through the streets of New York City to track down the iconic star, at the expense of his personal life and much to the chagrin of his wife, Lisa. Can he find Garbo before it's too late?

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Reviews

Scanialara You won't be disappointed!
Matialth Good concept, poorly executed.
BelSports This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Rosie Searle It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.
Blueghost I can't add too much to the other reviews. We have a devoted son trying to fulfill his mother's wish, and he goes to extremes in order to fulfill it, all the while trying to unknowingly fulfill his own.I saw this film when it was first released, and was just astounded as to its simple form. It was heart warming and heart wrenching all at once, though I didn't feel it at the time, but admired its simplicity in form. This is the kind of film making they simply don't do anymore. The shots are basic, functional, non-energetic, and do their job. No steadicam work, no overhead remote wire work, nor sweeping helicopter shots. And for that matter there's no wit filled dialogue. No excessive use of foul language. No explosions, gunshots nor car chases. No phony and juvenile romantic moments. No fake intimacy. No fabricated outlandish scenarios. No pre-teen raunch jokes and humor. None of that.It's the way movies used to be. The movie going audience was different back then. More mature. More adult. More willing to behave themselves and take life seriously but also acknowledge a time and place to have fun. They were also smarter when it came to the human condition. They weren't raised on fast food cinema with superheros gallivanting around CGI worlds. It was a different time. A different place. It's what going to the movies used to be like.And that's who this film is for. For those people, the movie audience of yesterday, who didn't mind taking in a matinée to see a romance or detective story on the screen. The kind of movie goer who wasn't waiting to be wowed by the next big breakthrough in special effects, CGI and other technical wizardry. They went for the actors and story.And those are the kind of films Greta Garbo was in. Oh sure, she was beautiful to be sure, but she was also an actress with reclusive tendencies--a quirk that made her legendary among her comeliness and presence on screen. People thought she was beautiful, and then her natural character was captured via lens and film to relay to the movie going audience of the 30s and 40s. People fell in love with her, her characters, her performances, and her films.In this film we bring all those elements together to form a compound for the classic movie lover who lived in the 80s. For anyone who loves their mother, for anyone who loves classic films, for anyone with a misled faith in Hollywood endings, such as I and many others, this film is for you.I haven't seen it since it was first released. And it was a pleasure to see it again.Check it out.
steven engler There are two stories here. The obvious one is about a man who grows by succeeding in impossible quest: the dutiful son fulfills his dying mother's wish, to meet her idol. That makes for a very pleasant movie. The more interesting story, beautifully summed up in the animation of the opening credits, concerns the role of idols in our lives. The conversation that forms the culminating scene of the movie hints, in several subtle ways, that this relationship has an almost religious dimension: because our interaction with media idols can mark the defining moments of our lives; and because of the intriguing way that Garbo talks... This second story makes this film exceptional.
debra (debra-13) Anne Bancroft has one of my favorite "renowned actress who really wants a great part" stories regarding this movie. She wanted the role, but Sidney Lumet wasn't going to give it to her. He'd just seen one of her husband's (Mel Brooks) lesser known, but still good movies, "To Be or Not To Be," and told her he was looking for someone older, less glamorous, less beautiful.And she said, "Look, in that movie, I was carefully photographed, I was lovingly lit, and I was sleeping with the producer!"So she got the part. And did such a good job.
Hawk_23007 Anne Bancroft, in the film Garbo Talks, experiences what many film fans can only dream of, meeting their idol. As Estelle Rolfe fades, we see her son Gilbert grow, helped along by his quest to find the mysterious Greta Garbo before his mother dies.This film, while not great, is a great film if you are a Garbo fan. Listening to Estelle tell Garbo of all the big moments of her life and how each were punctuated by one of Garbo's films, is a testament to the power film can have.

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