Burton and Taylor

All of this would be so much Hollywood melodrama were it not for a superb script and stunning performances by West and Carter.

It’s a film that asks a lot from West and Bonham Carter, who deliver time and again in roles that could have eaten them alive. Instead we feast.

Burton And Taylor is not comprehensive or perfect as a film--the direction in particular is lackluster--but as a character study in both writing and acting it is, as Burton says of Taylor herself, “peerless.”

While no one will mistake Helena Bonham Carter for a twin of the legendary violet-eyed actress, she’s more than convincing alongside “The Wire’s” Dominic West, who brings a troubled Richard Burton to life.

Her voice seems to roam all over the vocal register, but she is compelling.... West will make you forget he’s acting.

Carter and West turn in winning performances, however little they resemble the icons they've been tasked to portray.

What makes the film especially memorable, and equally flawed, is its single-minded determination to drive out all the sleaze and scandal that so defined Burton and Taylor's love affair. Ivory doesn't spin a celebrity tale here but rather a universal story about love won and love lost.

It is less a portrait of two combustible stars, played with empathy and breathtaking control by Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter, as it is a surprisingly thoughtful excavation of a love that is both undeniable and untenable.

This is how you honor show-biz legends, by hiring authentic actors to deliver sensitive interpretations (not caricatures), evoking the essence and burden of stardom without becoming a voyeuristic sideshow.

Burton and Taylor is intelligently winnowed down to a moment in time, firmly planting itself in the last days of disco.

The result is surprisingly interesting, fun and, at times, even quite moving.

Burton and Taylor is a wry, bittersweet take on a celebrated Hollywood romance. [21 Oct 2013, p.48]

Though Helena Bonham Carter struggles to get Taylor's voice just right--it sounds more like a Madeline Kahn impression--she's a gas as aging party girl Liz. Dominic West's Dick, meanwhile, is a model of worldweary dignity. If only they, and their film, were quite as gloriously messy as Liz and Dick themselves. [18 Oct 2013, p.60]

As with last year’s My Week with Marilyn, Burton and Taylor avoids retreading familiar material by picking a relatively quiet, unexplored interlude in a celebrity’s life--the stuff of tasteful restraint, but not exactly scintillating story. And it only scans as tasteful restraint if the audience can fill in all the salacious history for themselves. For those who can, Burton and Taylor is much more effective.

West doesn’t much resemble Burton, but he embodies him, capturing a proud man who is both battle-scarred and spent, like a bullfighter who’s been gored a few times too many.... Directed by Richard Laxton and written by William Ivory, Burton and Taylor can’t help but feel somewhat slight, due to its structure and focus.