If you've read my reviews, you know one of my famous phrases is that most actors have two sides to their acting; if you watch the wrong movies first you probably won't like them. Some might really appreciate all the work it looked like she put into Evita Peron, but I didn't like Faye Dunaway's performance as the famed Argentine. It felt very melodramatic, for the most part, especially once she got together with Juan Peron (portrayed by James Farentino) and entered the political realm. In the beginning, when she's young and trying to be an actress, she puts a little more subtleties into her performance when trying to convey her innocence. But after her innocence is taken away from her by José Ferrer (although no one forced her to run away from home and approach him in his private train car), she learns that she can trade sex for favors. In her quest to become a famous actress, she climbs the ladder quite easily. Then, she turns into the Faye Dunaway from Network and Mommie Dearest. I tend to feel something is lost when an actor is obviously trying to hit the back row. I considered the possibility that Faye was "trying to hit the back row" on purpose to show how Evita got corrupted by power and was always performing; but shouldn't she have given some contrast in her private moments so the audience could understand?
I do appreciate the work that went into this miniseries, and I liked seeing Katy Jurado still working into her old age, playing Faye's mother. Faye clearly studied Evita's mannerisms and gestures, but it was a constant reminder that this was a Hollywood production to hear her regular "affected" accent. She was cast to play an Argentine, and she was surrounded by a cast who mostly spoke in Spanish accents (the occasional American was very distracting), and yet she just spoke like she did in all her other movies. She was very American, and very obviously Faye Dunaway.
If she's your favorite actress, and you feel she can do no wrong, go ahead and rent this. I tend to like her subtleties better, like in Chinatown and Hurry Sundown.
