The Karen Carpenter Story (1989)
The Karen Carpenter Story (1989)
DVDRip | MP4 | 560 x 416 | x264 @ 1000 Kbps | English AC3 2.0 @ 128 Kbps | 88 min | 749 Mb
Genre: Drama
DVDRip | MP4 | 560 x 416 | x264 @ 1000 Kbps | English AC3 2.0 @ 128 Kbps | 88 min | 749 Mb
Genre: Drama
As the real-life Carpenters singing group is heard on the sound track, Cynthia Gibb stars as Karen Carpenter, with Mitchell Anderson costarring as her brother Richard. Karen's rise to the top is dutifully detailed, while Richard's brief flirtation with drug addiction is handled with discretion. The film takes a tragic turn when Karen's anorexia nervosa overcomes her ability to function, and finally kills her. The Karen Carpenter Story was a ratings winner, encouraging other less tasteful producers to overload the market with bad to indifferent made-for-TV life stories. The film was coproduced by the real Richard Carpenter, who has made the telling of his sister's story something of a lifetime mission.
The tunes are the best aspect of this television film which has admittedly better-than-average production values, but very surface and slightly altered biography. Dramatizes Richard's discovery of "We've Only Just Begun" and Karen's marriage troubles admirably (the "Superstar" montage was a nice touch), yet notably leaves out the disagreement with Neil Sedaka, the contribution of Tony Peluso's guitar solos, etc. Gibb is sweet in her Karen persona, but it doesn't include the tomboyish and gutsier sides of the real Carpenter's personality. Anderson is in fine form as the creative and take-charge Richard, and Fletcher makes her mark as the loving but overbearing Agnes. The most haunting moment of the original broadcast is the use of "Goodbye to Love" in the background of a commercial displaying an anorexia hotline.IMDB Reviewer
(click to enlarge)
The Karen Carpenter Story (1989)
