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Opening Night

Play trailer 4:43 Poster for Opening Night PG-13 1977 2h 24m Drama Play Trailer Watchlist
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96% Tomatometer 27 Reviews 90% Popcornmeter 2,500+ Ratings
Actress Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) is a functioning alcoholic actress who is a few days from the opening night of her latest play, concerning a woman distraught about aging. One night a car kills one of Myrtle's fans who is chasing her limousine in an attempt to get the star's attention. Myrtle internalizes the accident and goes on a spiritual quest, but fails to finds the answers she is after. As opening night inches closer and closer, fragile Myrtle must find a way to make the show go on.
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Opening Night

Opening Night

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Critics Consensus

Opening Night is as dense and difficult as one would expect from John Cassavetes, but even the director's detractors will be unable to deny the power of Gena Rowlands' performance.

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Critics Reviews

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Adam Kempenaar Filmspotting 03/23/2019
4/5
Tying back to A Woman Under the Influence... [Cassavetes] explores what happens when women don't play their prescribed roles. Go to Full Review
Richard Brody The New Yorker 07/05/2016
Cassavetes's most cleverly constructed film is also a definitive lesson in the death-defying, all-consuming art of acting, proof of a madness beyond the Method. Go to Full Review
Variety Staff Variety 07/28/2008
Gena Rowlands turns in another virtuoso performance as the troubled actress. Cassavetes' highly personal work will please his coterie of enthusiasts, but for general audiences it will be viewed as shrill, puzzling, depressing and overlong. Go to Full Review
Justine Smith Vague Visages 06/06/2024
As the film progresses, the truth comes to the surface, and it hits with bludgeoning force. Go to Full Review
Josh Larsen LarsenOnFilm 03/14/2019
3.5/4
Rowlands takes the movie by the throat... Go to Full Review
Dom Nero Esquire Magazine 10/16/2018
Opening Night is exactly the sort challenging film that we should consider when examining the adventurous breadth of a genre that cannot, and should not, be nailed down by any simple definition or formula. Go to Full Review
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Audience Reviews

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Chelsea C @Tuzinelda 9h I saw this movie at Alamo this week. I checked the reviews here before I went and I am so perplexed how its reviews are so high. Opening Night is sloppy and lazy. Most of the characters are very poorly written, and there were many missed opportunities to explore anything substantial. The older female playwright was given a very disrespectful amount of creative attention. This movie wishes it was about an actress aging, it sure says it is. But it isn’t. It’s more about alcoholism and it isn’t saying anything interesting about that. The play we are asked to believe was being produced had minimal thought given to it, and we suffer through multiple rounds of meandering off tone improv. It’s unclear what the play even needed to be from the beginning, because I think Cassavetes didn’t make those choices. Perhaps, the main character, like Cassavetes, can get away with doing bad work because they are or were beautiful. And the emperor can have no clothes as long as they once were a star. See more Rare T 09/10/2024 Very well filmed and acted out. See more Charles B 07/13/2024 fell asleep in parts of the movie so I had a hard time following the plot. but it was quite intense. The movie projects lots of authentic emotion which is more than can be said for most movies See more Jodi G 03/09/2024 NOT a brilliant movie. Definitely a confused & tedious one. Everything seems dated, and of course I can think of a zillion other much older films that are not dated & remain fresh & endlessly rewatchable. Gena Rowlands is absolutely BRILLIANT and not in the least dated. With the ghost element could reimagine as rather more mischievous,fun, & genuinely complex inquiry into creative process. Give me Bergman, Fellini, Truffaut, any day of the week. See more Alec B @Alec97 01/10/2024 A tense examination of an artist in freefall. Rowlands is obviously dynamite here and I appreciate how often the movie plays like a horror film. See more Donald A @TheRealAckervold 01/08/2024 Transfixing, captivating, moving: what more can a film strive to be? All of these adjectives describe the soul of Cassavetes' picture. It is essential viewing, especially for any actor of theatre. Cassavetes himself is fantastic, more than normally, but Rowlands is the star of the show. She's wonderful, the film won't work without her. Take her out of the equation and substitute in any actress, and the movie won't function as well. In every scene, Rowlands has the (for lack of a better word) hurt needed for the role. See more Read all reviews
Opening Night

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Movie Info

Synopsis Actress Myrtle Gordon (Gena Rowlands) is a functioning alcoholic actress who is a few days from the opening night of her latest play, concerning a woman distraught about aging. One night a car kills one of Myrtle's fans who is chasing her limousine in an attempt to get the star's attention. Myrtle internalizes the accident and goes on a spiritual quest, but fails to finds the answers she is after. As opening night inches closer and closer, fragile Myrtle must find a way to make the show go on.
Director
John Cassavetes
Producer
Al Ruban
Screenwriter
John Cassavetes
Rating
PG-13
Genre
Drama
Original Language
English
Release Date (Theaters)
Dec 25, 1977, Limited
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 29, 2011
Box Office (Gross USA)
$10.5K
Runtime
2h 24m
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