A DIFFERENT KIND OF HOLLYWOOD LOVE STORY. 

Opening six months before the deaths of Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, who passed away one day apart, this documentary examines a close mother-daughter relationship in the twilight of their years after a lifetime of turmoil, including divorces, health issues, addiction and hostility. This being Hollywood, everything played out in a very public limelight, but this film shows what everyday life looks like for Fisher and Reynolds who live next door to each other in a compound. There’s so much love between them, but also a lot of concern; after all, they’re both fragile and have gone through so much. Her career as an entertainer still motivates Reynolds, shuffling on and off stage, while Fisher has a more jaded impression of Tinseltown. Sweet and compelling, with engaging archive footage of their past.

2016-U.S. 95 min. Color. Produced by Alexis Bloom, Todd Fisher, Julie Nives. Directed by Alexis Bloom, Fisher Stevens.

Trivia: Co-executive produced by Brett Ratner. First shown at the Cannes festival, then released to HBO. Griffin Dunne makes an appearance.

Last word: “[Reynolds] didn’t really know that we wanted to just film her being Debbie. She thought a documentary was more like a presentation. She, at one point, asked us for lines. She was like, ‘Well, what are my lines?’ We said, “No, no, we’re just going to ask you questions and follow you and watch you perform.’ She was like, ‘OK. If that’s what Carrie and Todd want, I’ll let you do it.’” (Stevens, Los Angeles Times)

IMDb