Frances

R

Released Dec 3, 1982

2 hr. 20 min.

Biography

List

67%

30 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

2,500+ Ratings

Audience Score

This biopic explores the true story of Frances Farmer (Jessica Lange), a mold-breaking actress from Seattle who moved to Hollywood, Calif., and gained notoriety for her unconventional attitude. After being lured to New York under false pretenses, dealing with her overbearing mother and an addiction to alcohol lead to a mental collapse. Institutionalized, Farmer is abused by patients and staff alike. Following her release, Farmer hosts a local Indianapolis TV show until her death in 1970.

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Critics Consensus

This sordid biopic emphasizes the indignities visited upon Frances Farmer to the detriment of fleshing her out as a person, but Jessica Lange's towering performance invests the tragic figure with a humanity that the script lacks.

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Jerod S

Frances is a solid biopic about the sad treatment of Frances Farmer back in the 40s. Shock treatment and lobotomies were forced on her and her family was greedy.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/15/24

Full Review

Alec B

I'm not really sure what the perspective on Farmer is supposed to be here (its not really a straightforward victim narrative nor does it seem to want to examine her with complexity) but Lange's performance, one of her best, is the reason to see this.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

02/28/24

Full Review

Audience Member

Jessica Lange is Frances Farmer; this film directed by Graeme Clifford tells the true story of her alleged mental illness and the emotionally abusive treatment she received from her mother, Lillian Farmer In the 1930s she's an aspiring writer in Seattle writing essays sparking controversy with the public about religion labeled an aethiest Dwayne Steele was her first husband working for the paper Frances was a film star too in the 1930s who was then institutionalized in the 1940s Her career in Hollywood took off but quickly fell downward just as fast She resorted to alcoholism and society deemed her unfit Actors and actresses don't have what people want, how can one keep working while others are starving, does anybody really love anybody?, if you're treated like a patient you have to act like one Jessica Lange gives such a compelling performance and it's very heartbreaking seeing her as this woman continue to fall downward This is a person denying if something is really wrong when everyone else said it first Lange truly invests the tragic figure with a humanity that the script lacks and she captures, without self pity, the haunting quality of the eternal misfit Frances Farmer died in 1970 as she had lived...alone but she did all she could to live freely the way she wanted without feeling trapped

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/07/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Jessica Lange is Frances Farmer; this film directed by Graeme Clifford tells the true story of her alleged mental illness and the emotionally abusive treatment she received from her mother, Lillian Farmer In the 1930s she's an aspiring writer in Seattle writing essays sparking controversy with the public about religion labeled an aethiest Dwayne Steele was her first husband working for the paper Frances was a film star too in the 1930s who was then institutionalized in the 1940s Her career in Hollywood took off but quickly fell downward just as fast She resorted to alcoholism and society deemed her unfit Actors and actresses don't have what people want, how can one keep working while others are starving, does anybody really love anybody?, of you're treated like a patient you apt to act like one Jessica Lange gives such a compelling performance and it's very heartbreaking seeing her as this woman continue to fall downward This is a person denying if something is really wrong when everyone else said it first Lange truly invests the tragic figure with a humanity that the script lacks and she captures, without self pity, the haunting quality of the eternal misfit Frances Farmer died in 1970 as she had lived...alone but she did all she could to live freely the way she wanted without feeling trapped

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

12/08/22

Full Review

Audience Member

Not only is Frances possibly the most boring movie I have ever seen, but it's in bad taste. To depict her as undergoing a lobotomy when she in fact never had one does her story a disservice, as it implies her other traumas weren't enough for the story. And to top it all off, for the entirety of the movie I had one and only one thought: Why is there a movie about this woman?

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/23/23

Full Review

Audience Member

A very good film with fantastic performances by Lange and Smith. Jessica Lange gives a truly fantastic performance on the exploitation of Hollywood, institutions and family. Did Frances Farmer put herself into some of these situations? Yes, she did. But the film also shows her trying to find her way in life and always being forced back into a life she wants move on from. Lange gives a exhilarating performance, one I could not imagine anyone else playing. Too bad she was nominated that year against Meryl Streep in Sophie's Choice, one of the best performances by an actress, as she would've easily beaten Spacek in Missing and probably the other performances though I have not seen them. Stanly was also deservedly nominated for Best Supporting Actress in her performance as Frances's mother but amusingly lost to her co-star. I thought she gave a better performance than Close in The World According To Garp, the only other film I have seen in that category. The only problems I have in the film are the underdevelopment of Frances's love interest Harry and also the over-exaggerated "bad guy" performances from the psychiatrist. It felt like the film was shouting at the audience "THESE ARE BAD PEOPLE" and the script could've written these scenes a bit more subtly. Overall, though, the performances and story are the main reasons to seek out and watch this film.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/11/23

Full Review

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Graeme Clifford

Director

Jessica Lange

Frances Farmer

Kim Stanley

Lillian Farmer

Sam Shepard

Harry York

Bart Burns

Ernest Farmer

Jonathan Banks

Hitchhiker

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Derek Malcolm

Guardian

[Frances], though palpably overlong... is on the whole well-directed, decently set within its period, and makes the Jessica Lange of King Kong and the Postman Always Ring Twice look an actress of an entirely different class.

Mar 24, 2023

Full Review

Bob Thomas

Associated Press

There was material for a profound human tragedy in her life, but three writers were unable to uncover it. The result is an almost ludicrous parody of the Old Hollywood.

Nov 12, 2018

Full Review

Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Jessica Lange brings so much energy and personal involvement to her portrayal of Frances Farmer that you can't help but feel sorry for her; nothing else in the film remotely matches her talent and dedication.

Mar 9, 2015

Full Review

Molly Haskell

Vogue

Jessica Lange, blonde, nervy, witty, with great huge restless hands, captures, without self pity, the haunting quality of the eternal misfit.

Feb 26, 2020

Full Review

Diego Galán

El Pais (Spain)

The facts are not presented with inspiration. [Full Review in Spanish]

Aug 29, 2019

Full Review

Camille Kittrell

Sojourner

Regardless of the cinematic flaws, the story of Frances Farmer is so powerful that the film still has a harrowing impact.

Aug 20, 2019

Full Review

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Synopsis

This biopic explores the true story of Frances Farmer (Jessica Lange), a mold-breaking actress from Seattle who moved to Hollywood, Calif., and gained notoriety for her unconventional attitude. After being lured to New York under false pretenses, dealing with her overbearing mother and an addiction to alcohol lead to a mental collapse. Institutionalized, Farmer is abused by patients and staff alike. Following her release, Farmer hosts a local Indianapolis TV show until her death in 1970.

Director: Graeme Clifford
Distributor: Universal Pictures
Production Co: EMI Films Ltd.
Rating: R
Genre: Biography
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 3, 1982, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Mar 2, 2010
Sound Mix: Surround

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