The Great Lillian Hall: A Captivating Performance by Jessica Lange

In the latest HBO TV movie, The Great Lillian Hall, Jessica Lange delivers a breathtaking performance as a Tony-winning actress struggling with dementia. This elegant Broadway-set drama is a character study centered around Lange’s knockout lead performance.

A Tony-winning actress struggling with dementia

Lange’s character, Lillian Hall, is a Broadway legend preparing to perform on stage, but she’s forgetting lines, growing unsteady on her feet, and seeing visions of her late husband. Her assistant and longtime friend Edith (Kathy Bates), her daughter (Lily Rabe), and her new director David (Jesse Williams) are concerned, but Lillian is adamant that the show will go on, no matter what it takes.

“This isn’t show art, this is showbusiness!” - A villainous producer

The film takes seriously the act of stage performance and the perils that come along with it. With theatre pros in front of and behind the camera, it’s a film that feels like a throwback in the best ways. Scenes of Lange and Bates, two women in their 70s, softly sniping at each other in a luxe Manhattan apartment, are a rare joy to see.

Lillian Hall, a Broadway legend

Lange’s performance is a thrilling showcase, avoiding every cliche of the over-emphasized theatricality of playing a performer and the oft-seen movie-of-the-week confusion of having dementia. Scenes of her unmoored are shattering, yet the film doesn’t wallow in the miserable inevitability of it all. There’s humor and even a frisson of romance with her flirty pot-smoking neighbor, played by Pierce Brosnan.

Lillian’s flirty neighbor

The film may be slight, and at times rustily directed, but Lange’s performance undoubtedly will linger. The role of a star delivering her swansong is delivered by an actor who’s clearly far from it.