Themes: Haunted By the Past, Home From the War, Women During Wartime
Main Cast: Meryl Streep, Charles Dance, Tracey Ullman, John Gielgud, Sting
Release Year: 1985
Country: US/UK
Run Time: 119 minutes
MPAA Rating: R
Plot
Plenty boasts a cast of actors ranging from John Gielgud as an ethical and caustic senior diplomat to Meryl Streep as Susan Traherne, a woman looking for solace and a decent life in the aftermath of World War II. After World War II has ended, along with her work in the French Resistance movement and an idealized love affair with a soldier, Susan finds jobs in the business and diplomatic worlds. Her life slowly disintegrates as she tries and fails to have a child then marries diplomat Raymond Brock (Charles Dance) and suffers further emotional decline as her rather conventional marriage eventually becomes cool and finally, alienating. Against Susan's difficulties are tumultuous events in the background -- the Suez Canal crisis and Middle East developments among them. David Hare adapted the screenplay from his successful stage play which first opened in 1978. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
Review
The plays of David Hare tend to polarize their audiences, although he is more generally acclaimed at home in England than in other parts of the world -- probably because his work often comments, at times obliquely, on situations and events that have special resonance with English audiences. Plenty, the film version of an early Hare hit, has been blessed with a rock solid cast, but many will still find it rough going. Essentially an extended character study (of both the character Susan Traherne and, metaphorically, of post-war Britain itself), the film is rather deliberately paced; Susan's mantra may be "I must be moving on," but director Fred Schepisi is content to linger a bit too much. However, this gives a subtlety and ambiguity to the film, which some will find entrancing. More problematic is the fact that most viewers will find Susan exasperating and annoying and lose patience with her. This is in spite of Meryl Streep's impressive performance. She delves into the character and lives in her skin. Where other stars would be afraid to explore the character's less attractive side or would want to balance the unpleasantness of the character, Streep charges head on and never looks back. The script may never let the audience understand Susan 100%, but it is clear that Streep knows her down to her toenails. She is well supported by John Gielgud and Tracey Ullman, both of whom make the most of their parts. Plenty will bore many and frustrate others, but Streep's performance is worth watching. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide
Ian McKellen - Sir Andrew Charleson; Sam Neill - Lazar; Roger Ashton-Griffiths - Radio Professor; Lyndon Brook - Begley; Hugo de Vernier - Doctor; Peter Forbes-Robertson - Hotel Manager; Matthew Guinness - Soe Man; Richard Hope - Alistair; William Hoyland - Priest; Lindsay Ingram - Linda; Jasper Jacob - Young Diplomat; Tristram Jellinek - Dawncey; Burt Kwouk - Mr. Aung; Hugh Laurie - Harry; Pik Sen Lim - Mme. Aung; Andre Maranne - Villon; Roddy Maude-Roxby - Committee Chairman; John Rees - Soe Man; Tim Seely - Sir Charles Curry; John Serret - French Farmer; Jeffry Wickham - Soe Man; Michael Johnson - Account Executive; Joan Blackham - Miss Simpson; Bernard Brown - Client; Mitch Davies - Harry; Nicholas Frankau - Foreign Office Assistant; Alexander John - Radio Interviewer; John Kidd - 1st Committee Man; Geoffrey Larder - TV Salesman; Karen Lewis - Brock's Maid; Clare McIntyre - Girl at Dinner Party; Beth Morris - Housewife in Advert; Ali Rafaie - Iranian Servant; Roger Rowland - Police Officer; Andrew Seear - Ashley; James Snell - Vincent Tampan; Terry Lightfoot and His Band - Jazz Group; Rupert Vansittart - Client's Assistant; Andrew dela Tour - Randall; Christopher Fairbank - Spencer; James Taylor - Tony, Dead; Ian Wallace - Medlicott
Credit
Tony Reading - Art Director, Adrian Smith - Art Director, Ruth Myers - Costume Designer, Fred Schepisi - Director, Peter Honess - Editor, Bruce Smeaton - Composer (Music Score), Christine Beveridge - Makeup, J. Roy Helland - Makeup, Richard Macdonald - Production Designer, Ian Baker - Cinematographer, Joseph Papp - Producer, Edward R. Pressman - Producer, Peter James - Set Designer, David Hare - Screenwriter, David Hare - Play Author
The plot focuses on Susan Traherne, irreparably changed by her experiences as a fighter for the French Resistance during World War II. She is determined to achieve what she wishes in the post-war world which, after her time away, she finds trivial and inadequate, while acting with complete disregard for everybody around her.
Movie critic Roger Ebert gave the film three stars out of four [1]. He said about Mrs. Streep performance that "it is a performance of great subtlety; it is hard to play an unbalanced, neurotic, self-destructive woman, and do it with such gentleness and charm... Streep creates a whole character around a woman who could have simply been a catalogue of symptoms".
