The Glass Menagerie (1987) [VHS]

Paul Newman directed this poetic, sunlight- and memory-drenched movie model of Tennessee Williams’s traditional reminiscence play. The casting is surprisingly adept, contemplating that a number of of the performers would appear to be too outdated for his or her roles. John Malkovich performs Williams’s stand-in, Tom Wingfield, a dreamer who lives together with his domineering mom Amanda (a luminous Joanne Woodward) and his fragile, limping sister Laura (Karen Allen). Mother desires nothing greater than to marry off shy-flower Laura and retains bugging Tom to carry residence a man. So he corrals coworker James Naughton for an evening–and Amanda treats it as if Naughton’s signed up for the nuptial short-course. Woodward is alternately touching and harridan-like as this smothering mom who means nicely, whereas Malkovich is ideal because the would-be author longing to interrupt free. And Allen brings stunning energy to the function of Laura. –Marshall High-quality