Harockerce What a beautiful movie!

Inclubabu Plot so thin, it passes unnoticed.

Manthast Absolutely amazing

Myron Clemons A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

ivyfield I've just watched this movie again - for about the 4/5th time and now understand Richard Carpenter's comments. The project could have been so much better. Historically incorrect (using the Made in America sleeve in the early stage of their career footage and the exclusion of Karen's solo project)which, I suppose is expected when you have to cram an entire life into 120 minutes. Yes, Cynthia Gibb is at time uncannily like Karen but boy, Ms Gibb really should have been given some serious lip-syncing lessons and whoever was in charge of the wigs should have taken up a different career! The guy who played Richard did a decent enough job, but you can't help feeling that this really could have/should have been a much better movie. I guess the budget was low and thank God we got the original Karen vocals - I shudder to think how it could have been without her vocals!This is a story worth telling properly. Like 'Ray' (Ray Charles biopic) with a big budget and maybe some extra soundtrack from Richard. What's he doing these days? The soundtrack alone would sell millions. No-one loves The Carpenters more than me. I have everything they've ever released on CD (and vinyl!) and regularly visit YouTube to check if any more gems have been uploaded that I haven't seen before. Like Nat King Cole, Karen's voice is beyond any words of praise. Thank God for all the recordings that will be around long, long after we've all gone. Steve Weaver, UK 9 Oct 2013.

buschgardenschik I've become a big fan of the Carpenters, and I didn't really enjoy this movie.I feel it focused far too much on her anorexia and didn't let her true personality shine through. I wasn't overly fond of Cynthia Gibb's portrayal; especially knowing she decided Karen's anorexia was suicide, which it clearly wasn't. Although her family was not big on hugs and kisses, I thought the movie portrayed Agnes (their mother) as being terrible.I did find a few scenes to be harrowing in a way, such as where she sees herself in a mirror that seems to distort her and make her look heavier; I thought the metaphor (so-to-speak) there was rather effective. When the family is playing pool and discussing her divorce and she breaks down and Richard is shocked when he comforts her and feels her frail body was pretty moving (which is probably the wrong word) as well.Overall, I feel they needed to bring out her more bubbly, quirky side--her genuine personality. Even as the focus of the film, there really wasn't a point that caused one to understand what would lead her to anorexia (though of course no one can really know), and almost made it seem baseless. The film was more poor-singer-with-anorexia than Karen Carpenter's story, in my opinion.I would assume that they changed her husband's name/profession and all because they couldn't get his permission to actually include him (there were some bad terms there), but that whole aspect was inaccurate with the changes. On this note, I can't recall the movie bringing out her longing for a family and kids, which greatly prevailed in her life and explains her whirlwind romance and quick marriage to her husband.On the whole, it ends up as a low-budget made-for-TV movie that just isn't very high quality and can be disappointing if you're a hardcore fan who is hoping to see beyond Karen's disease. I feel that such a legend deserves/deserved a better film as a tribute to an amazing person and an awesome voice.

MarieGabrielle I am very diplomatic in my reviews, and as an academic writer, try to give creative license to TV writers trying to explicate a true story. This story, about Karen Carpenter, could have helped so many, yet due to the directing and editing, does not.The story, in this case, is not fully addressed, unless one reads psychological journals. While Cynthia Gibb portrays a realistic Karen, it is sad that so much has been edited...Louise Fletcher portrays her mother, and does an excellent job, with limited material and dialogue. In this case, I give the actors credit for surviving this project.Why is the audience not permitted to see causation factors?....American audiences are quite savvy, and if they have cable, usually educated.I sincerely feel that I could have written a better story, would not have edited out the truth, and allowed the actors to project the reality.Richard Carpenter, as director, has seriously underestimated and insulted American audiences. Karen's story is important, and it is sad we will never hear it.

harry-76 The same fate which befell Brian Wilson and the Beach Boys was bestowed upon Karen Carpenter and her brother Richard.How to negotiate and balance super-successful careers with normal, healthy lives? Although this pattern's been repeated time and again, it's still tough when it happens to young, "green," people coping with "pro" pressures.Had Karen remained "hidden" behind that trap set, instead of being "exposed" out front (where everyone could see how "pudgy and plump" she was) things might have gone better. It was no accident that she protested leaving those drums ("That's where I belong . . .") for that may well have been her true place.As soon as she stepped to the front mike and solo spot, things began to change--for the worst. However, neither management nor peers realized the great price she'd have to pay, until too late.This biopic has good casting, and a sumptuously beautiful soundtrack, with Karen's (and Richard's) vocal and instrumental ringing out with their greatest hits (including the ravishing "The Masquerade").The film does omit their college period (c. '66-'70) at California State University at Long Beach, and the subsequent inclusion of their vocal director from CSULB, Frank Pooler, who greatly enhanced their tour work.It also avoided dramatizing the death of Karen, making the mood less sorrowful, and ending on a more optimistic note with her mother's expressing her love for Karen. So, another story of the high price of fame, and a touching memorial to the life and times of The Carpenters.