Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer (1989) starring Chynna Phillips, Perry King, Courteney Cox, Betsy Russell, Amy Adams directed by Richard A. Colla Movie Review

Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer (1989)   2/52/52/52/52/5


Chynna Phillips and Perry King in Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer (1989)

No Pulitzer Prize Here

Whilst I am sure many will recognize the name Pulitzer from the famous prizes I wonder how many like me know nothing about the family behind it. I mention this because "Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer" is a TV movie made about Roxanne U. Renckens who married Herbert "Peter" Pulitzer, heir to Pulitzer, Inc and who in the 80s went through a very public and messy divorce from him. Now you should gather by my admission to having no knowledge about the Pulitzer family that I also have no knowledge about the divorce which grabbed media headlines but that isn't enough to put me off watching a movie and having no knowledge is in this case a benefit.

Now I say no knowledge is a benefit because "Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer" is based on Roxanne Pulitzer's autobiography and as such this is obviously a movie which tells what happened from her point of view and for those who are aware of their divorce might see it as one sided. But no knowledge also helps because of not knowing the details of what happened there are some surprises along the way. Although having said that I do know that during their divorce there was some salicious accusations of affairs and much more which unsurprisingly doesn't make it into this TV movie.

Anyway what we get in "Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer" takes us from their first meeting through to the ups and downs of their marriage after they have children, with it being made out that Herbert was demanding and controlling before eventually it ended up in the divorce courts and in the media. The thing is that the style of this especially during the romantic build up almost feels like a Danielle Steel movie with that air of romance which is over the top. It does get better the further the storyline progresses as we have drama and troubles but it never feels like a realistic drama.

What this all boils down to is that "Roxanne: The Prize Pulitzer" is entertaining up to a point for those who don't know the story of the bitter and public divorce. But it is a movie which bogged down by its dated style making it often feel cheesy, melodramatic and false.


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