User reviews

This film is an interesting take on a biopic, blending elements of realism with more fantastical sequences set in Gloria's imagination. With references to The Handmaid's Tale, Wizard of Oz and more, these metaphorical inserts may not be for everyone but I felt they enriched the story. It features stellar performances from Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander, with appearances from Janelle Monae and Bette Middler. I almost didn't watch this because I saw what a low score it had, and yet it seems this is perhaps to do with political leanings. Regardless of where your political views lie, this is an interesting look at an influential woman, and a beautifully made, entertaining film with a brilliant cast. The appearance of Gloria Steinem herself at the end was a particularly moving way to complete this intimate look at her life.

Superb acting and an interesting story about a fascinating life. It was long but worth making it through to the end. Couldn't be more relevant than it is in this moment. Glad I watched.

Unfocused but well acted; "The Glorias" pays homage to a feminist icon with a talented cast but the final product is far from being iconic.

In this drama, feminist icon Gloria Steinem recounts her itinerant childhood's influence on her life as a writer, activist and organizer for women's rights worldwide. Based on a true story.

I can appreciate director Julie Taymor's vision (except for that "Wizard Of Oz" sequence, which was a bit much), but "The Glorias" leans more on the messy side rather than being wholly empowering. However the cast is great; Julianne Moore is terrific, Alicia Vikander delivers a solid performance, but Bette Midler is the scene stealer and kicks serious ass in her role. An inspiring and interesting story but overly long and uneven.

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That being said, this film was about 30 minutes too long and there were some editing choices that kept it from reaching its potential.

For a film on an important person of an important movement, I expected much more. The story telling is not so good, and is even confusing. For example, there are different ages of Glorias in one scene or even in one frame. There are way too many imageries for viewers to digest. I don't see how the women's rights movement develops, and I don't sense the passion in the characters or the women's rights movement.

To be politically correct is not enough to make a great movie. This one, while worth watching, is too simplistic and the characters are to cartoonish, without defaults or complications. It also spans over too many issues not properly developed. To have the main character tripicated also seems unnecessary, Wikander and Moore are not so differently aged that it requires them doubling. A disappointing experience nevertheless. It is also a bit boring to watch this type of American movies so one-sided in its ethical agenda. There is another world out there less programmed in a left-wing liberal topic but no less worth picturing.

This film took its time but finally made its way to the UK this week and I have watched The Glorias and here is my review for it. The premise of the film follows the life of Feminist icon Gloria Steinem as she campaigns for woman's rights.

Main Character There are a few people that play Gloria here, with the main two being Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander and they are both really good in the film. I personally preferred Vikander's section of the film because I thought her version of the character was more interesting and compelled me greater then when Moore was on screen. But both actresses do really good jobs in their roles and provide a decent outlook on this real person and the life that she led.

Supporting Characters There are some decent supporting characters here. Janelle Monae & Lorraine Toussaint were the highlights for me and I thought they provided some life and energy to the film when it needed it. But I also thought there were plenty of paper thin characters on screen, especially on the male front which made this film at times feel like a film that doesn't provide a fair argument. Also the child versions of Gloria didn't really do anything for me and I guess that wasn't the actresses fault but it was a part of the film I wasn't a huge fan of.

Story The story obviously is important and highlights a key part of the women's right movement and it does a decent job with that and is the part of the story that works. But this story is a bit all over the place, it jumps all over the place in terms of timelines which feels very jarring and unnecessary and it really hurts the plot. I thought the switch from Vikander to Moore was handled poorly and felt really weird, especially considering none of the other performers changed despite the time difference.

Script The script is also not great, the dialogue doesn't do anything, apart from one forced scene in the last act it feels a bit timid. For a story that is so heavy and emotional it feels like the characters never get angry and never show just how invested they are.

Style The style is also a real issue and for me the worst part of the film. As I said before, the changing of timelines is incredibly jarring and makes the film feel like a bit of a mess to watch. Also the film is 2 hours and 20 mins and that is way too long, it drags its heels in and tries to show so much that it feels so long and there is at least 20/30 mins that could have been taken off here. Also there are some really weird sequences that just feel really out of place and a bizarre choice.

Overall Overall, this is a below average film that didn't really interest me. There are some decent performances, but I would say this is only a film for people who are already interested in the Woman's Rights Movement and Gloria Steinem but other then that this one is worth a miss.

Rating - 4/10.

4.5/10 on IMDb?? Is that because anti-feminists who haven't even watched it are just giving it 1 star? I personally thought it was a great movie that told Ms Steinem's story in an honest and inspiring way without preaching or overdoing anything. Alicia Vikander delivered an amazing performance (as per usual), and so did everyone else. The only criticism I have is that it was too unnecessarily slow at times, consequently making the overall movie much longer than it needed to be. It definitely could have been shortened by 30 or even 45 minutes.

'The Glorias' is an exquisitely-directed tale of the life and times of Gloria Steinem in a creative and compelling way with stellar performances from Julianne Moore and Alicia Vikander. Though feels like a highlight reel at times, the movie never loses its focus and its powerful grip on the viewer's emotions. Glorious.

A failed opportunity. The movie is overlong and becomes a hero worship of Stienem.

It's all over the place with It's bad writing, direction and inability to tell a story.

The 4 different Gloria's idea is Interesting and starts off well but falls away in an over stylized mess.

I literally just finished streaming it... it was a pure delight. An exquisitely-directed (by Julie Taymor) tale of an iconic figure and those around her who had profound influence.

Kudos must also be given to Alicia Vikander, Janelle Monáe, Julianne Moore, Bette Midler, Timothy Hutton, Lorraine Toussaint and Kimberly Guerrero.

Anyone interested in the history of equality (and its long pursuit... especially in recent years) should make sure to see this one. It's a relay race! Every triumph is built upon a previous triumph.

"When it's Moore's turn, her Gloria is seasoned with more compassion and resolution in her vocation, coursing through the landmark moments of spearheading ERA movement, authoring and editorializing Ms. magazine, a lifelong friendship with Wilma Mankiller (Guerrero), the first woman to serve as Cherokee principal chief in 1985, together with diverting appearances of renowned activists like Bella Abzug (Midler, a class act), Flo Kennedy (a mordant Toussaint) and Dolores Huerta (Sanchez). Deferentially paying homage to Ms. Steinem and her achievement, it is noticeable that THE GLORIAS tries very hard to sustain a fidelity that is artistically at the expense of Taymor's usual visual flourish (save for a crimson superimposition as a response to a male chauvinist question and an animated sequence of the cover of Ms. magazine's first issue) and narrative selection."

read my full review on my blog: cinema omnivore, thanks

Was looking forward to this film but was horribly let down. Did Gloria approve this production it's shameful and boring. So sad this story they could have been inspiring was a drain and the exact opposite.

For much of her life, Gloria Steinem seemed a fully formed celebrity. You would be forgiven for assuming she was from some big, rich, privileged family and had the luxury of doing whatever she wanted in life. So it was really interesting to see that Steinem had two very unusual and intelligent parents who she loved and who were unconventional and had their own troubles. As a young Steinem, Alicia Vikander is amazing. It is a very affectionate and reverent film, but also very informative, intelligent and respectful. It is very useful to see how Steinem had to cope with openly sexist newspaper colleagues, and how she came from an era when not much was expected from women other than to be pretty bunnies, like when she worked at the Playboy club, or homemakers. The film shows how courageous and incredibly confident Steinem was, in saying 'no' to people trying to steer her towards various paths in life. Her two year trip to India was life changing and amazing in itself. The shots of Steinem as a child are really well done. Affectionate and interesting. Overall, this is a really good film.

On paper the conceit of this film is fascinating. Have the same character/person at different stages of their life interact with their future/past self and give context and comment on the important moments of their life.

In practice this film is not the best example of that conceit. The scenes where the 4 Glorias are on the never-ending bus journey together are few and far between and feel like very brief, surreal interludes in an otherwise fairly basic biopic. Either commit to the surrealism and have the fantastical bus journey BE the film as they discuss each important moment in Gloria Steinem's life or dispense with it entirely and just do a by-the-numbers biopic. I think Julie Taymor tried to do both and ended up falling between too many houses.

I also think the film is a little too directly connected to the original memoir that Steinem wrote. The scene where Julianne Moore is giving a reading from the book goes way too far in my opinion. It tips into the realm of hagiography. Don't get me wrong Gloria Steinem is an awesome person and her story should be told, but there's far too much hero worship here. Having said that I loved the real Gloria Steinem showing up at the end.

Ultimately this comes across as a standard, basic biopic with surreal interludes that are too infrequent and don't really fit the tone of the film at large. Well acted and a story worth telling, but only an average feature film.

I thought like many others, that most of the bad reviews were from backwards misogynists, I wish I was right.

The movie's cast is impeccable and give really strong performances but it seems the film makers were pre-occupied with making a movie with "artistic integrity", rather than telling Gloria's story. Her life is so fascinating and impressive that a straightforward chronological movie would not only sufficed but barely scraped the surface of her life. This movie gave the surface a glance

The biggest let-down is that watching a three minute clip of Gloria talking about Marilyn Monroe gave me more insight to who she is as a person, than spending two and a half hours watching a movie about her life

This is such a missed opportunity and I hope someone will be able to make a movie that does Gloria's life story justice

Male, 36.

What a beautifully and engaging well crafted film--It is EXACTLY what is needed right now. I am so completely impressed with the writing, the casting, the acting and the super creative sequences and montages. Bravo--thank you to the film team and cast for giving us this gift of a film!

I've just lost over 2 hours of my life that I'll never get back. The movie is to long and boring.

As a woman, I am truly humbled and deeply moved by this film. I enjoyed it even more than I'd hoped. It tells the story of a fierce, bold woman's tireless work to advocate for female rights. Watching this movie, I couldn't help but wonder what it would be like for me to live in a time where I did not have (nearly) the same rights as a man. Even as a 23 year old woman living in America, I have experienced sexism and the negative impacts of a patriarchal society throughout my entire life. I have felt the consequences of being a woman in a man's world since I was a young girl; discrepancies in respect, power, rights. It is more than emotional, it is more than intellectual: my phsyical rights. So many times I have been aware of how my situation would be better, if I were simply a man. I am indebted and thankful for the hard work of Gloria Steinem and her peers for shrinking that gap. While our country and world still has progress to make, I cannot imagine the deep pain and inequalities I would face daily, had it not been for Gloria's hard work and the feminist movement. Thank you.

This has no focus, it rambles, it is incoherent. If we didn't know about Gloria, we would not have been able to figure out the story. It has scattered pieces as if they needed minutes of filler. My husband laughed in one scene, when there appeared to be a witch or ghost and some red lighting and a man sweating, and asked "am I watching the Wizard of Oz". Super stupid. Sorry, I want my money back. How could Julianne Moore let this garbage go out?

Plods along for 140 minutes in its telling of the life and times of Gloria Steinem. Her life has to have been more interesting than this windbag story into which director Julie Taymor injects her damned puppets in a Wizard of Oz riff. Title derives from having four actresses play Steinem at various ages. In small roles, Bette Midler is zesty as Bella Abzug as is Lorraine Toussaint as Flo Kennedy. But all four of the Steinems are pretty dull. The two adult versions are played by Alicia Vikander and Julianne Moore. Stealing the film, ironically, is Timothy Hutton as Leo Steinem, Gloria's unorthodox father.

For those interested in Steinem, they'd be better off watching the recent TV miniseries Mrs. America.

The film somehow makes an interesting person and story very boring. It loses sight, is disconnected, and an overall let down . In addition, I couldn't stand Alicia Vikander's "Gloria Voice". Like listening to the crackling and squeakiness of teen age boy going through puberty. It was abrasive and took away from the film. Overall, just an unfortunately disappointing film. Steinem deserved more.

Great cast. Lovely cinematography. Fresh editing that draws you into the story. Thank you for daring to be different. :)

How could such an interesting person and time in history be potrayed as so utterly boring? The pace and tempo are on par with a sleeping pill. Lifestyle vignettes dont make for in interesting story.