User reviews

We watch a lot of Lifetime movies. My family swears by them. However, even by Lifetime movie standards, this movie is an absolute put-on production. I expected some level of awkwardness and wince inducing dialogue, but usually there was redeem-ability in the storyline or "charm factor". This movie had all the potential to be something great, but in the end it was too unbelievable and scarce in good qualities to be redeemable.

It can't be blamed on just one person's performance, but I would put a vast majority of the blame on Lindsay Lohan, the script and the production.

Grant Bowler showed a lot of potential and often it either seemed like he was either the only one actually acting in a scene (with Lohan) or he was trying to illicit some kind of emotional reaction in her performances that her responses to this was almost always met with a flat note. You could completely feel and see the disconnect between them and their own personal expectations. I felt like he put in his all and that he was trying his best to stay in character, but her personality was far more visible and opague than her acting on any level that the believability was just not there. I found myself feeling pity for him and the rest of the cast, but often the bad dialogue just amplified these problems ten-fold.

The sense of time/space was very vague too. Scenes would change often but you had no idea how time had progressed. There was no real feel of what time period you were in or the energy of the era you were living in. Many of the scenes looked the same or the vibe was always the same. You had to rely on the text that would appear that would tell you the shift in time, but I looked away at one point and found myself totally lost time-wise in the film. This made the film feel like it was crawling to finish and made it feel like they hadn't finished editing. Almost like they didn't get enough good scenes, they just decided to put in what made the most sense time-wise, but it was just snapshot moment after snapshot... it felt more like you were going through a change-of-set at a high school play than a cinematic transition like really any movie.

Looking back, had they cast someone more reliable than Lindsay Lohan in terms of acting and personality, they would've stood a better chance of finding someone whose chemistry would've matched Grant Bowler's acting. This film probably would not have struggled so much to make the dialogue work. However, her acting felt 'rushed' as there was no real energy there and she was sleep walking through the scenes.

On the plus side, my interest in Elizabeth Taylor grew so much after this film because I felt like it did her so little justice... Lindsay especially made Taylor seem more estranged to the viewer after her performances. For anyone who wants to know more about Elizabeth Taylor, they would do better to read a biography and watch a few of her movies than to watch this film... this film does her little justice.

This movie is for those 13 and up. I had high hopes for this film, Liz and Dick. I was a bit disappointed. I don't think that Lindsay Lohan was a good Elizabeth Taylor, but for those who have never seen Elizabeth Taylor, it did work superficially. I do think that Grant Bowler did a better job playing Richard Burton than Lindsay did playing Liz. But it would be difficult to play two of Hollywood's royalty, let alone royalty couples. One cannot expect to see Liz Taylor and Richard Burton to play themselves. One would find great fault with anyone playing such icons of Hollywood splendor. I think enough attempt was made to get the 'essence' of personality on screen to warrant an evening of entertainment. Three thumbs up.

As we begin, the aged Shakespearean actor Grant Bowler (as Richard "Dick" Burton) appears to be near his death bed, writing a letter to Hollywood temptress Lindsay Lohan (as Elizabeth "Liz" Taylor). We flashback to their 1961 meeting, while beginning the epic "Cleopatra" (1963). He is smitten. She plays hard-to-get, but succumbs quickly. Both are married, which causes great scandal. "Liz & Dick" get married and divorced, twice. They drink a considerable amount of liquor and burn countless cigarettes, which are the common denominators as the jaded couple travel around the world...

This was promoted as a blockbuster film event, but turns out to be a substandard TV-movie. The reason for the hype was Ms. Lohan's (then) status as a celebrity. Her public escapades would seem to suggest she might bring some depth to the role, but it does not happen. Her "Elizabeth" is not as entertaining as the original, by a long shot...

The make-up successfully suggests Ms. Taylor, though it also changes Lohan into both Natalie Wood and Suzanne Pleshette, as the years roll along. The script most obviously lacks Ms. Taylor's sense of humor - and her fondness for frequent obscenities. Her co-star is likewise restrained. One of the better sequences, directed by Lloyd Kramer, occurs when the couple play "rock the trailer" while spouses Eddie Fisher and Sybil Burton arrive on the set. Confusingly pieced together, "Liz & Dick" ends quickly and without any sense of the famous couple's friendship. There simply isn't much story here.

*** Liz & Dick (11/25/12) Lloyd Kramer ~ Lindsay Lohan, Grant Bowler, David Hunt, Theresa Russell

One of Hollywood's most publicized and scandalous relationships is that of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. When I saw previews for the 2012 film Liz and Dick, I was excited about it; despite my feelings against Lindsay Lohan for the part of Taylor, I was going to be open-minded and see the movie anyway. However, once I saw the Lifetime movie, Lindsay Lohan did nothing but solidify my initial feelings against her as Elizabeth Taylor. The makeup artists, film editors, and costume designers might have been able to create brief instances where Lindsay resembles Taylor physically, but the moment Lindsay starts to speak or even move, she completely tarnishes the character and any essence of Taylor she managed to harness. I've seen better acting in a high school theater production. Lohan was simply, and very clearly, the wrong casting choice to play the great Hollywood diva, Elizabeth Taylor. Taylor is one of Hollywood's most prominent and influential actresses of all time, and the honor of playing her in a movie is one that should have been given with much more scrutiny and contemplation. It seemed to me that Lohan lazily approached her responsibilities to the part. First off, her accent and diction as Elizabeth was way off, making it hard to pay attention to anything that was actually being said. It was as if Lohan made no effort at all to capture Elizabeth Taylor's persona, voice, and demeanor. Second, Lohan owes Grant Bowler an apology for putting the burden on him to carry them through every scene. Grant Bowler did an exceptional job at becoming Burton, unfortunately, his efforts were lost whenever Lohan had the next line.

As atrocious as Lindsay's performance as Taylor was, Lohan was not the only reason Liz and Dick failed to be a successful Hollywood biopic. The screen writing and storyline were extremely lacking in substance and failed to represent the better aspects of Taylor and Burton's love story. The film depicted Taylor and Burton as raging alcoholics; there didn't seem to be a scene absent of some sort of alcohol or narcotic. The entire storyline consists of love making, drinking, and fighting, all of which happens between only two characters. None of the other characters in the film are deeply developed or even included in the storyline at all. As a viewer, it's hard to engage in a film without any real substance or emotional ties to characters. Overall, this was not a good movie and I undoubtedly give it a 2 out of 10 star rating. Lohan failed to give the great Hollywood starlit the justice she deserves, and it's a good thing Taylor isn't around to see the abomination. The movie had great potential and it was something that I looked forward to seeing. A glimpse and dramatization of the great Liz and Dick love story could have been a romantic and successful movie. Capturing Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton's life and love on film is no easy feat, and it shouldn't have been handled the way it was; if they were going to do it, they should have done it right or at least without Lohan.

Here are a few of my favorite Tweets about the film: @campsucks This is the weirdest episode of Mad Men. #LizandDick @NicDressel An actress who will never win an Oscar playing an Oscar winning actress in a movie that will never win any award. #inception #lizanddick @fuggirls The chemistry between LiLo and Grant Bowler is the equivalent to trying to light a cigarette with an ice cube. – H #LizAndDicK @BenWiddicombe .@lifetimetv Can we have Hilary Duff as Grace Kelly please? Maybe Snooki as Audrey Hepburn? Jazz Ponce #LizandDick I believe we've been way too hard on stars of previous Lifetime movies. For one We really owe Tori Spelling an apology… @JasonAlexander If the dead could sue, the producers of "Liz and Dick" would be in court this morning.

@pattonoswalt Dear @lindsaylohan: I give you permission to Tweet me to smithereens when I do Lifetime's CHAZ BONO: THE CRUELEST CUT in March. #lizanddick Check out My Blog: http://mknavarre.blogspot.com/

I don't want to use this forum to beat up on Lindsay Lohan because she is an easy target, but really y'all? Did somebody actually look at the dailies while this film was being made and say to themselves, "oh yeah, Lindsay nailed it"...Lindsay Lohan was good in the Parent Trap when she was a small child, but it's almost as if she stopped trying after that. This film required acting chops that Ms. Lohan either does not possess, or could not tap into. Either that, or Ms. Lohan simply didn't find the role important enough to bother preparing for it. Even somebody who isn't familiar with the porcelain skinned, exquisitely beautiful Elizabeth Taylor with her precise, breathy, slightly British way of talking, and her expressive eyes could watch her films and at least TRY to embody her smoldering sensuality and physicality. Instead, I found myself looking at Ms. Lohan and thinking, her lips are too puffy, her skin is too rough, too thick, and the makeup just made it worse. The close ups were hideous, showing the thick makeup to cover Lohan's freckles, and her eyelashes are too obviously fake, with wigs that aren't even pretending not to be wigs. But that's all just costume and make up, so I still have hope. Then Lohan speaks, and that's when I know: It was just cruel to cast Lindsay Lohan as Elizabeth Taylor and expect her to pull it off because she has this hoarse voice that sounds like it has spent too much time in smoke-filled bars, or screaming at people; a voice with a flat affect, rushing her lines as if she just wants to wrap the scene so she can go to the mall. Lohan's voice has NO inflection, and her face shows no expression. In fact, Lohan is NOT the exceptionally delicate, quietly fierce, risk taker that Elizabeth Taylor was; nor is she captivating on the screen like Elizabeth Taylor was. I'm sorry to make this statement, but it is what it is: Lindsay Lohan can not act. She can not play anyone other than herself. And she looks terrible. Grant Bowler did a great job of embodying the late Richard Burton, but his wig was terrible and distracted from his performance. Burton never had that much hair. And who did Bowler's make up? because they should have been fired. Richard Burton's screen presence had nothing to do with being handsome, because he wasn't. He was magnetic, and his voice was his best feature, but Grant Bowler is far too handsome to play Richard Burton, and his voice didn't have the richness or the depth of Burton's. There are so many talented actors in Hollywood who could have made this film worth watching, and had somebody gone to the effort to cast a better actress to play Taylor, I feel like Grant Bowler's Burton would have been more believable. Additionally, this film was simply a series of costume changing scenes filled with the couples' childish bickering. I realize the real life couple had a stormy relationship, but this film made them appear ridiculous. To make matters worse, there was ZERO CHEMISTRY between Lohan and Bowler, and I had the feeling Bowler was disgusted with having to carry this film by himself. This film lacks the effort necessary to make a film credible or even entertaining. Lohan should have never been cast as Taylor, and should have been replaced the first day of shooting. Not a kind tribute to Taylor and Burton. I think Burton would call this film bloody awful.

As a lifelong fan who saw these events play out as they happened, I waited with eager anticipation to see the romance of the century portrayed in film. I have seen some of Lyndsay Lohan's early movies but have only seen her drug and alcohol fueled antics splayed across the gossip rags in recent years. I wasn't sure what to expect with her cast as La Liz. What the hell were they thinking?! She was awful!! Worst casting and acting I've seen......ever! Whiney, skinny 20-something "actress" was totally miss-cast and out of her league. Dick was at least believable to some extent but the rest......kinda painful to watch. Wish they could do it over. DVR'd it because I was busy the night it aired......delete!

This movie dispels all the mystery and magic around this star-spun couple, here portrayed as rich drunks in a whirlwind of self-absorbed emotion. However, the diction of Grant Bowler is remarkably Burtonesque while Lindsay Lohan cannot rise above the California valley. Taylor spoke with distinction--slowly, somewhat deliberately, and with a stylishly youthful twist in her young to middle years. Lohan mumbles and sprints through her lines with her now nasal-bound voice. I mostly blame the director for missing this most important feature of the legendary Taylor. This movie is a hot mess that grows worse with every scene. It is surely destined for Saturday Night Live.

As has been noted, Bowler evokes Burton with his voice. He has studied him, has it down. Lohan does not sound like Taylor at all, does not bring anything that remotely captures the essence of the woman to this film pairing. She just careens through her lines as if a superficial physical resemblance was all that mattered. And her inability to evoke Elizabeth is a constant irritant. There is nothing in this performance that gives a clue as to why they were attracted to one another...or if they really were. I kept listening for a resemblance in the voice, in the bearing..it just was not there. I found myself thinking at one point that Michael Jackson could have done a better job, as he sure had studied the woman. Painful.

Liz & Dick (2012)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Made-for-TV film about the up and down relationship between Elizabeth Taylor (Lindsay Lohan) and Richard Burton (Grant Bowler). That's pretty much all you need to know in regards to the story. If you don't know who Taylor and Burton were and just tune into this film then you're going to come away that they were both spoiled, drunk idiots who fought and had sex a lot. LIZ & DICK is a pretty poor movie that has some very good stuff in it but there's just no getting around some incredibly big and fatal flaws. The biggest flaw is the casting of Lohan, a talented actress, who is simply in way over her head. I really don't blame her horrible performance on her, I really blame the producers for casting her just to get some press and ratings. It's clear their trick worked but it really ended up killing the film because there's not a single frame where one will believe her as Taylor. The performance from Lohan is just bad and all over the place. Even embarrassing when it comes times for Lohan to re-enact some of the famous scenes from Taylor's movies. You can even call the performance lazy as the film covers twenty-plus years yet Lohan never ages. The film also goes over Taylor battles with gaining weight yet Lohan remains 100-pounds if that. Even worse is Lohan keeping her exact voice and not even trying to do Taylor's. Bowler, on the other hand, does a pretty good job capturing the voice of Burton and he handles the dramatic scenes much better. The film never tells you much about either person other than they drank too much and we never even get any knowledge of the films they made together. This is basically just a sleazy tabloid piece that goes for ratings and very little else. The film remains watchable because of the train wreck of a performance by Lohan but thankfully neither Taylor or Burton lived to see this.

I just finished watching the movie. Lindsey looked like Liz, but her voice was the most noticeable distraction. Elizabeth Taylor had vulnerability in her voice, but was precise. Lindsay did not seem very vulnerable in her voice--she seemed more, "Whatever, lady." The acting was misguided because the director really should have worked harder to bring more of Liz out of Linds.

What I could not get over was how bad the script was and even worse was the editing. So much more could have been detailed in the storyline, but the abrupt edits made it difficult to sustain momentum.

Overall, the movie was hyped to be a blockbuster event, but deep down, it's still a made-for-TV movie by Lifetime: The television for women and the gay men they want to convert. So, don't expect Oscar nominations.

I think the film and performances could have been a lot better, but overall, it was enjoyable to watch but probably not noteworthy.

As someone who (as a HUGE fan of Burton's life, career, and legacy) has researched the actor for 25 years, I have to say this movie is an utter DISGRACE to him as well as Taylor! Everything that both Burton and Taylor had going for them and what made them captivating to the public back in the 60's, 70's,....and even today is completely overlooked (if not lost) in this awful movie. If you're starved for a DECENT film about Burton and Taylor check out the BBC's "Burton and Taylor". Hell, even NBC's 'Liz: The Elizabeth Taylor Story" was better than this rubbish! Not to mention Angus Macfadyen's portrayal as Burton was MUCH better! There's also a very good (yet somewhat controversial) Welsh film called "Burton; The Secret", about Richard Burton's relationship with his older brother Ifor and the theory (one of many) that Burton may have had something to do with the accident which left his brother paralyzed for the rest of his life. Based on my research of Richard Burton I have a hard time believing what the movie claims, but it's a well made film nonetheless.

All the credit for this movie should go to the makeup, costume and set crew members. The sets and designs are stunning! And they did a fabulous job with Liz's makeup and wardrobe. Stunning. Personally, Lohan is good at throwing hissy fits and acting like a snob. But I did not see one ounce of chemistry or affection between her and Dick.

This movie Liz and Dick is one of the most boring and trying films I have ever attempted to watch. Lindsay Lohan is terrible in this role and I don't even care to know who tried to play Richard Burton. I left the movie running for a few minutes to see if it would get any better and then I told my husband to please just turn it off it was making me ill. I would NEVER recommend this movie to anyone and I am sorry that I wasted any money on renting this horrible flick. Nothing about it had any interest to me and it is a shame to see something so terrible that it would make even Elizabeth Taylor look bad. I hope to God in real life that LIFE was better for Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton because this movie shows something disgusting and tasteless.

The script was well written, but as countless reviews have said before - Lohan in no way captured Elizabeth. I grew up watching Elizabeth Taylor, and was hopeful that this movie might have been at least watchable.

Honestly I found myself stalking the scene ends, and wondering how they had managed to allow this to happen. Truly it makes me wonder if Lohan has even seen an Elizabeth Taylor movie?

There is a lack of effortlessness that, to me at least, Elizabeth (even in the face of her worst turmoils) conveyed in all of her movies.

It's almost as if Lohan focused on the wrong angles of what made Elizabeth one in a million. Yes she had her problems, but she said herself: "Pour yourself a drink, put on some lipstick, and pull yourself together."

I think Lohan forgot the pulling yourself together part.

but I really can't When I saw the trailers, I thought it had promise. I saw scenes where it actually looked like Liz and Dick, but those were about the only resemblances I saw. The script was pretty thin and the acting was pretty pitiful. The script did cover their turbulent lives, but did not provide us with any information that we did not already know. Of course, if you are a bit younger than I am, you may have missed their trials and tribulation. If fact, you may not even know who they were and probably do not care. This movie will in no way inspire you to look further into their lives.

For me, the high point of the whole thing was when Burton died because I knew that the movie was about to be over. Skip this one.

I thought the costume design and jewelry was really authentic. They actually used Elizabeth's real trailer. Lindsay does look very similar to Elizabeth Taylor - more so than any other actress I can think of. I think it was too much for Lindsay to do right now. Too big of a part. I think she was very brave for doing it, knowing people would bash her ... like they are. My lord - give a girl a chance would ya? It wasn't a bad movie. Yes, her voice didn't fit Elizabeth's. I thought Richard Burton's character did very well. All other aspects of the movie were great. I think people are so caught up in Lindsay's reputation they can't get past it. Again I say . . . it wasn't a bad movie. I quite enjoyed it!

I have suffered from clinical depression for years and even contemplated suicide before. Last night, in the depths of my despair, I channel surfed my way – purely by accident – to Lifetime and saw all but the first few moments of Liz & Dick. You may have trouble believing this, but I have never before laughed like I did last night. It was the kind of soul-cleansing, near-suffocating laughter that simply will not let up until you have given yourself over to its power. Just as I would recover each time, some new scene would tickle me mercilessly inside and the whole process would start over again – I believe I even lost consciousness a couple of times. I woke up this morning to a brand new, joyful day. I threw away my medications, called my shrink and told him I didn't need to see him any longer and told my parents not to worry about me anymore – I am now cured. Thank you Lloyd Kramer and Christopher Monger. Thank you, Grant Bowler! But most of all – and I mean this from the bottom of my heart – THANK YOU Lindsay Dee Lohan, the most special of Gods bizarre creations! Simply put, Liz & Dick is the greatest comedy in history.

I was actually very surprised! I am a really huge fan of Lindsay and I couldn't wait for this movie. Considering the reviews I thought it would have been really bad but it wasn't. Sure maybe her voice wasn't spot on and the scenes jumped from one thing to another but over all I was very pleased and I hope that she keeps making films. Also Elizabeth Taylor is so iconic and different that no one can really replicate her, but for those two hours that I was watching it I was entertained. There are only two things that I have to say were bad, like I said before the scenes were cut way to fast and jumped from one thing to another, also at one point Lindsay fainted and it was so sudden that you weren't really expecting it so it was kinda funny. But that's it,so I recommend people seeing it first without judging and to just watch the movie without thinking about everything else going on in her life and just focus on the movie.

Not for one minute was Lohan believable in the role as Taylor. This role should have been given to a seasoned actress at least in her 30s. Lohan mostly looked like a little kid playing dress-up with her mother's makeup. And what was with her puffy-looking lips? And her double chin? And the AWFUL hair/wigs? And the fake eyelashes that always looked like they were about to fall off? Whomever wrote the script obviously has no talent. It was worse than shallow. There were so many mistakes and the characters were never fleshed out; they only scratched the surface of who these two really were. Elizabeth Taylor was a complex woman. Lohan is arguably just a one-hit wonder whose acting ability is extremely limited, if it exists at all. Her raspy deep-throated voice is in stark contrast to Taylor's elegant way of speaking. Not to mention the obvious: Taylor was one of the most beautiful women of all time. Lohan is a 20-something child with mediocre looks. And the freckles made her look even more like a cartoon character. It's a shame she was cast in this role - they used her for publicity knowing the movie would end up being nothing more than a silly parody.