I really wish I could give this movie a full ten stars; unfortunately there is just too much wrong with it. For one thing, it is much too long, and the scenes of Rose's deterioration are rubbed in the audience's face until the movie becomes pretty much unbearable to watch. I found myself wanting to tell the director, "Okay, I get it, she's falling apart, now can we please move on?" Also the film has suffered from the beginning from the fact that it is a thinly-disguised biopic of Janis Joplin; no doubt the filmmakers had reasons for fictionalizing what was certainly a dynamic, if tragic, true story, but knowing that it is "fictionalized reality" is sort of a bummer.<br /><br />However, this film has one saving grace: Bette Midler. Mark Rydell has proved over the years that he has a gift for directing actors (culminating in what I consider to be his masterpiece, ON GOLDEN POND). Midler had some little acting experience before; she was in FIDDLER ON THE ROOF on Broadway and had had small roles in about half a dozen pictures before making her screen debut (as a leading lady) here. And what a debut it is. Like Bette Davis, Judy Garland, Barbra Streisand, and Ethel Merman, Midler is a larger-than-life persona, especially on screen, and this movie milks her ebullient and sassy personality for all it is worth. Rydell's sense of overkill would have sunk the picture except that Rose, as Midler plays her, has a waif-like charm and a vulnerability that just makes you want to protect her even as she blows you away with her vocal cords of steel, moving huge audiences to loud cheering.<br /><br />I should really have said two saving graces: Frederic Forrest earned his Oscar nomination here. In what might have been a thankless role in the hands of a lesser actor, Forrest makes you feel what his character feels for Rose, even his sense that his love is not going to be enough to save her.<br /><br />The rest of the cast is simply competent. Rydell is an actor's director, and unless an actor is either miscast or truly lacking in talent it is impossible for him/her to give a bad performance in a Rydell film. So it must be admitted that Alan Bates is very good here, though his character is such a thoroughgoing villain it is hard to care anything for him: as Rose's manager and therefore the person spending the most time with her, you would think he could tell exhaustion from temperament; here he is merely a sadistic monster and definitely plays a role in Rose's final destruction. But of course, perhaps it is a tribute to Bates that he makes you hate him so completely.<br /><br />This is an actor-driven movie. Its length is a problem: I have no objection to long movies which need their length to tell their story (SCHINDLER'S LIST comes to mind), but at LEAST a half an hour could have been chopped out of this picture and it would probably have made better viewing because there are moments when the whole proceeding grinds to a screeching halt. Also, the script is only so-so; a straightforward biopic would have taken fewer liberties and probably would have made a better film, and Midler could certainly have played a convincing Joplin.<br /><br />The performances are what make this film worth watching; Midler is a powerhouse and Forrest not only holds his own but emerges as a strong presence in his own right.