Review: Bright Lights Starring Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher

I don’t know if any or everyone involved with this 2016 documentary knew that Debbie Reynolds was perhaps not in the best of health or not. However, watching this film from Fisher Stevens and Alexis Bloom, not too long after her and daughter Carrie Fisher’s tragic deaths just days apart is a rather unusual and emotional experience. The film now obviously takes on a new meaning and resonance. These two ladies were really something. I have more of a connection to Carrie, being a fan of “Star Wars”, “The Blues Brothers”, and “When Harry Met Sally”, but boy did this film give me a new appreciation for her mother. I’ve always had respect for her, especially in her dedication to preserving Hollywood memorabilia (The ruby red slippers from “The Wizard of Oz” and a set of Rat Pack suits, for instance), but she was undeniably a true star. In the early stages of the film, she appears elderly but still walking around and as talkative as ever. It’s amazing that she was still doing shows at the time this was filmed, albeit not of the quality of when she was younger. She’s shown to be still very witty and sharp, such as when she tells an audience ‘I should’ve married Burt Reynolds. I wouldn’t have to change my last name. And we could share wigs’. For much of the film she shows herself to be tough, tireless, and pretty unaware of her own age. It’s only after about 70 minutes or so that there’s any real hint of frailty there, and indeed she does start to deteriorate a bit near the end of the film. I was never a fan of her films, but this movie made me miss her, damn it. A 1995 interview by Carrie Fisher with her grandmother shows that she too was a helluva lady to be reckoned with.

 

Carrie’s the one who looks like life has taken a toll on her, and with all the hell-raising she did over the years (not to mention the mental illness that she was still dealing with whilst this doco was filming), it’s no surprise. Nonetheless, Carrie’s as witty and profane as ever here. It’s her and her acid tongue, if nothing else that keeps this film from getting too syrupy and sweet. I thought it was hilarious that she refers to “Star Wars” fan signings as ‘Celebrity Lap Dance’. She clearly did appreciate “Star Wars” and the fans, just…in her own uniquely cynical way.

 

It’s a little hard to watch, given about a year later both of these remarkable ladies (who lived next door to one another in recent years) would be dead, but for the most part I don’t think this is particularly intrusive or exploitive. Having Reynolds’ son serve as producer, and the two ladies themselves telling the stories should put any such ideas to rest. However, I’m not sure the 2010 interview with Carrie’s father Eddie (three months before his death) was something I was meant to see. Although Carrie refers to him as ‘one of the better ones’, I don’t think he comes off well, and he certainly is in extremely rough shape. Still, that was her dad and I’ll defer to her in that case.

 

For me, what I really loved about the film is the relationship between mother and daughter. I’m not sure I understand why Debbie wishes she had her daughter’s singing voice, as a godawful country twang-ing rendition of ‘Bridge Over Troubled Water’ from a young Carrie (who would eerily go on to marry Paul Simon for a short time) is very hard on the ears. However, it’s sweet to hear Debbie encourage her daughter nonetheless. This isn’t what you read or saw in “Postcards From the Edge”. In fact, Carrie concedes here that “Postcards” was written at an angry time. Here though, their relationship is about as sweet as you’re gonna get from Carrie Fisher. I mean, this is a woman who has a joke blood-stained shower curtain for crying out loud, and it’s hilarious. I want one! The whole film is full of funny moments, such as the bit where an interview with Debbie is interrupted by the sound of her burglar alarm going off. It’s not all laughs though, as a moment at the SAG awards with Debbie earning a lifetime achievement award to be presented by her daughter nearly had me tearing up. Yeah, Debbie loses track a little bit during her speech, but so what? She was in her 80s at the time and afterwards she really seems to want to enjoy the moment and the award. This achievement clearly meant something to her and it’s very sweet.

 

This isn’t a great documentary, but it’s must-see and really quite touching, fascinating, and funny. I guess it’ll work better for people not already so fully-informed about the mother-daughter duo, but I certainly enjoyed this. We lost a couple of great showbiz personalities here, folks. If you believe in such spiritual things, I guess it isn’t such a bad thing if they were reunited so quickly in death. I don’t believe in Heaven or such matters, but if such a place did exist, I bet they’re having one helluva time together with everybody else hanging off every word.

 

Rating: B