People Like Us

I love this miniseries starting with the theme music and the cast. A glamorous cast and several very good subplots that involve murder, infidelity, high society, religious fanaticism, homosexual love, AIDS, snobbery and friendship all rolled into one four hour two parter. Ben Gazzara, Connie Selllica in her best ever role and Award winner for her role Eva Marie Saint as a horrible socialite that the audience will love to hate as I did are all excellent. I have not read the book and I assume that not everything in the book is covered here but that is what happens when books are made into movies, dealing with the time element that a movie has. The setting, New York's upper crust society is very well represented as is the snobbism that is a result of such a social scene. I believe that many of the characters including Ben Gazzara's writer are based on real life characters including the novelist Dominque Dunne who is himself part of the Jet set. I also believe that the film actress played by TV actress Ruta Lee is based on Elizabeth Taylor who became a major figure in the AIDS battle as does the actress in this story. I have to mention the lovely and wonderful Jean Simmons in a small but important role who adds her glamorous name and class to the proceedings and is a throwback to the Golden Age of Cinema from whence she come. Eva Marie Saint is a standout.