The movie was originally released in December 2010 and was re-released in April of this year in hopes of finding a wider audience. I recently watched it on DVD and found it to be an engaging story that sheds light on an issue that receives too little attention: mental illness.
Too often, people fall through the cracks of the system that is supposed to help them. And the situation of undiagnosed and/or untreated mental disorders is no doubt even worse for African Americans and other people of color.
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| Watch the Frankie & Alice trailer by clicking this link: http://www.fandango.com/movie-trailer/frankie26alice-trailer/139403 |
Berry deservedly won an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture, was named Best Actress by the African American Film Critics Association, and received a 2011 Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of this real-life woman who courageously - and successfully - battled her inner demons.
The true story takes place in the '70s, when Frankie was working as a go-go dancer and began exhibiting erratic behavior and having black-out episodes. For example, she would wake up to find that someone had emptied her checking account and recorded the purchases in the check register in handwriting Frankie didn't recognize. She would then go into her closet and find expensive dresses with the tags still on that she didn't remember buying.
As it turned out, Frankie had an alter ego, a racist Southern belle named Alice. There was also a small child living inside Frankie. As Frankie later discovered, her split personality resulted from trauma she survived as a young woman.
Phylicia Rashad and Grey's Anatomy's Chandra Wilson also turn in powerful, understated performances as Frankie's mother and sister. And Stellan Skarsgard is perfectly cast as Frankie's patient, insightful psychiatrist.
In the behind-the-scenes commentary, Berry noted that Frankie & Alice carries on the legacy of serious dramas like 1975's Oscar-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. She made an excellent point: movies that tackled heavyweight social issues like Cuckoo's Nest were the blockbusters of the '70s and '80s when she was growing up. But nowadays, such dramas are rarely made, and when they are, they often struggle to find financing and distribution even when they have big-name stars like Berry. (Read about Berry's struggle to get Frankie & Alice out of "development hell" by clicking this link to a Variety magazine article: http://variety.com/2014/film/news/why-did-halle-berrys-frankie-alice-languish-on-the-shelf-1201151777/)
Perhaps Frankie & Alice should have been a Lifetime or HBO movie instead of a theatrical release so that it could find a wider audience. Hopefully this movie will find an after-life on cable and DVD.
In the behind-the-scenes commentary, Berry noted that Frankie & Alice carries on the legacy of serious dramas like 1975's Oscar-winning One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. She made an excellent point: movies that tackled heavyweight social issues like Cuckoo's Nest were the blockbusters of the '70s and '80s when she was growing up. But nowadays, such dramas are rarely made, and when they are, they often struggle to find financing and distribution even when they have big-name stars like Berry. (Read about Berry's struggle to get Frankie & Alice out of "development hell" by clicking this link to a Variety magazine article: http://variety.com/2014/film/news/why-did-halle-berrys-frankie-alice-languish-on-the-shelf-1201151777/)
Perhaps Frankie & Alice should have been a Lifetime or HBO movie instead of a theatrical release so that it could find a wider audience. Hopefully this movie will find an after-life on cable and DVD.
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