Touches You

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Karen Carpenter had a singing voice that only comes along in the world every few decades. It was instantly recognizable. She had a full three octaves of range, with the lower two of those possessing a rich timbre and an uncanny ability for a very soothing slow-vibrato (my term). Karen's problems were partly caused by her desire to be accepted and were intensely driven by her stage-demon of a mother, Agnes Carpenter. The problems perpetuated because her family lived in denial that a problem existed. They refused outside help until the damage to Karen's heart from her abuse of ipecac (which she eventually discontinued because she feared that it would damage her vocal cords) was irreversible. The acting in the movie is good, and the songs are well-mixed, but it takes unreasonable liberties with reality. Over half of the scenes that Barry Morrow wrote were rejected by the family (mainly by Agnes Carpenter), who didn't want any negativity. It drove Morrow to the point where he refused to work on the movie any longer. His replacement had the same problem, and a third writer was brought in to finish. The whole thing is contrived, and to anybody who knew the actual situation, the movie has very little to do with how things really were.Anybody who wants a realistic view of how things were should read the book "Little Girl Blue" by Randy Schmidt, which offers an objective view.

Being an avid Carpenter Fan, I really loved this film (although the wigs do leave a lot to be desired!) and agree with many of the comments, that certain areas of her life were absent or not touched on. Whatever - it leaves your curiosity well and truly unsatisfied, so off I went to discover more. I must recommend a book by Ray Coleman - Carpenters - The Untold Story. The book is an intelligent read and unlike the film, is 'real' and down to earth. I hope you enjoy it. I remember Cynthia Gibb from her days in Fame and Gypsy. She is a singer (aswell as dancer) in her own right and I think this was the edge needed to create the character. Some other actresses may have struggled with this. It is ashame the film did not delve deeper into her story. After all this is the film title, but I felt we learnt more about Richard, but I suppose like any performer worth their salt, you should always leave them wanting more!

Her heavenly voice was stilled much too soon, but Karen Carpenter gave the world some beautiful music along the way. Karen's melodious voice burst through the middle-of-the road arrangements that her brother, Richard, and the record producers tossed her way. Even many of the songs, a few written by Richard, were moon-in-June type selections; yet Karen rose above the fluff and soared with her own special style of singing. Karen's situation is similar in many ways to that of Jackie Wilson, a performer much admired by the King himself, Elvis. Jackie Wilson's producers surrounded him with syrupy strings, bland choral backing, and at times popcorn lyrics, but he was able to break free from these musical shackles by effectively using his magnificent voice and style.Since Richard supervised this official biography of his sister, we believe what we see. The psychologist who confronts the family with Karen's eating disorder makes it plan where the problems lay. Richard was the big brother looking after his little sister, sometimes to the detriment of his own career. The family was overprotective of the baby sister to the point of virtually controlling her life and smothering her with their domination. The producers bring it all home by choosing Nurse Ratched to play Karen's mother, who thinks giving Quaaludes to her son is not the same as hooking him on drugs. If you are a Carpenters fan, then you'll love the soundtrack to the film. All the good stuff is here, sung by Karen herself. Cynthia Gibb makes the viewer believe that she is Karen Carpenter. She not only looks the part but lip-syncs perfectly. How she appears to lose so much weight during the film is amazing. Mitchell Anderson portrays Richard Carpenter just as effectively. He too has the looks and gives the viewer a sense of seeking his own stardom without getting in his sister's way. He seems content being in Karen's shadow.The imagery of the drums adds effect to the drama by indicating that they were Karen's security blanket (that term is even used). Once she emerges from the drums to take center stage, she is indeed on the top of the world, a place where she feels uncomfortable and vulnerable. Her super stardom, added to the stress already present in her life, led to her fall, which was truly a loss for all of us.

I didn't personally know Karen Carpenter, nor, Richard for that matter, so I must go by how the movie portrayed her. I think a better person to ask about it's accuracy would be her brother Richard. However, from what I did see and learn of Karen, I felt her pain, share her sadness, and she was a very special person to me growing up. I know that I wasn't born until 1965 so I didn't get to know her as much as some of you older fans but I definitely grew up listening to her music and I have fond memories of her music. I remember the song about the "Radio" (every sha la la la every whoa...so fine,) etc and I remember "We've only just begun! As a matter of fact, I memorized many, many of her songs and some people (quite a few) tell me that my voice sounds almost identical to her!!! ( I am not joking on this). I also used to be anorexic during high school and part of college (1978-1987) to be exact and weighed anywhere from 82 pounds to eventually 120 pounds in 1987. I developed some pretty serious health problems from that which helped me to identify with the actress portraying Karen in the movie. The mother (Agnes) was very MUCH like my mother in many ways and I could also feel the pain that Karen must have experienced. For, my mother was often unfeeling, critical, and disapproving as Agnes was (if this was true to accuracy). The movie was helpful in identifying and getting to know Karen on a more personal note by not just hearing her music but by seeing what she was going through. It is quite difficult to portray a person's entire life in 2-3 hours and recount every single detail perfectly so I would have to say that there is probably no biography that is that accurate. I will give this story an 8 though! I wish I did know Karen personally! I would have DIED to meet her!! I would have loved to have shook her hand, given her a hug, or talked to her. I feel her warmth and love every time I hear one of her songs and she is greatly missed.