Farrah Fawcett works very hard here at making herself willowy and one-dimensional--helpless, in other words--but one can sense right away she's a tough cookie. The deep growl in her voice, the ire in her manner when she gets angry. Portraying a battered wife in "The Burning Bed", Fawcett is holding herself back so we will more easily understand the plight of this abused woman with no resources, but it isn't always convincing (and I'm not sure who was responsible for talking Farrah into looking so drab--I'm sure there are lovely women who are victims of marital abuse). Nevertheless, this TV-film is a no-nonsense take on the subject and the flaws can be overlooked. The jazz score is incredible, the kids are very natural, Grace Zabriskie is perfectly hissable as Paul LeMat's mother. LeMat, playing Fawcett's drunken, explosive husband, is effective, but I still think a woman of Farrah's stature could have stood up to him. I believed her much more as the unbalanced child-killer of "Small Sacrifices" than I did her here.
Review of The Burning Bed
The Burning Bed
(1984 TV Movie)
Fawcett is good, though maybe too resilient to be convincing as a battered wife
12 March 2006