On 2009-05-03 Tim, wrote: I think the only reason this is given such high reviews is owing to the fact that it is such a great play. The performances here are frankly mediocre, and Wallace Shawn is just not that good in the role. Vanya is in the middle of a nervous breakdown and Shawn plays him tired and resigned. PLEASE see the BBC Chekhov collection with Kenny Jones as Vanya to see what this really could be. PLEASE. At least for an English version; curiously, there is no Russian version of this anywhere on DVD.
. And summed up by saying What are you people thinking?!. Currently Vanya on 42nd Steet has an overall rating of 8 over 10.
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Andre Gregory claimed This stirring 1994 work by Louis Malle brought the legendary French filmmaker into another collaboration with actors-writers-directors Andre Gregory and Wallace Shawn, scribes and stars of the great My Dinner with Andre. The situation here is that Shawn and Gregory were participants in a years-long, informal project remounting a production of Chekhov´s Uncle Vanya every few months for select friends and the general worthiness of the idea. Wearing street clothes and strolling to a crumbling New Amsterdam theater on Broadway, actors Shawn, Julianne Moore, George Gaynes, Brooke Smith, Larry Pine, Phoebe Brand, Lynn Cohen, and others would do a full run of the text (as sharply translated by David Mamet) while a beaming Gregory (the play´s director) looked on. Malle--who died following this film--spent a few days transforming the theatrical experiment into a viable film that maintained the company´s unusual purpose and spirit. The result is something between a narrative feature and a documentary about an acting workshop, and is both highly entertaining and cinematically enthralling. A terrific final note in Malle´s distinguished career, this is a must-see for anyone who cared about his work or who has a passion for Chekhov. --Tom Keogh
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