A Streetcar Named Desire
Director: Glenn Jordan
Writer: Tennessee Williams (who wrote the play)
Cast: Jessica Lange, Alec Baldwin, John Goodman, Diane Lane, Matt Keeslar
Seen on: 20./22.7.2025

Content Note: rape, domestic violence

Plot:
Blanche DuBois (Jesscia Lange) comes to visit her sister Stella (Diane Lane) in New Orleans. The two of them come from a family of plantation owners who have been slowly but steadily going bankrupt. Now their plantation, Belle Reve, is gone and Blanche, who has always been a nervous type, is falling apart due to her alcoholism and the fact that she can’t really deal with her growing age and fading looks. Stella is happy to see Blanche, but Stella’s husband Stanley (Alec Baldwin), a factory worker, doesn’t trust Blanche or her story about how Belle Reve was lost. Blanche herself is shocked about the circumstances Stella lives in. As Blanche’s and Stanley’s worlds collide, something has got to give.

A Streetcar Named Desire is definitely a play I have opinions on (it’s just one of my fave) and when I got to talking to a colleague about it, he recommended this version of it, a made for TV film with a pretty damn impressive cast. I was intrigued, and it certainly is a good take on it, even if it didn’t work perfectly for me.

I know I am a tough audience when it comes to this play, and having seen multiple versions of it by now, I don’t think I have one that I’d call definitive (still haven’t seen the Brando version, dammit, I really need to get to it), or matching my internal version of the play. What most of the versions I saw manage is giving us excellent versions of the two sisters, and this film is no exception. Jessica Lange’s Blanche is captivating in her fragility, in the way she scrambles to keep up appearances, lest she fall apart completely. I don’t think I ever had my heart broken more by the failure of her romance with Mitch (John Goodman) than in this film. And Diane Lane’s Stella manages to find the parallels of her own fate with that of Blanche, but vigorously denies them in any way she can.

The most difficult part is always Stanley [I would really like to see a woman direct Stanley for once, I think the male directors think it is done with casting a good-looking actor in the role]. Stanley needs to be hot and dangerous, he needs to be charismatic and tempting and petty and violent. He needs to be convinced of his own grandeur, but also incapable of withstanding even the remotest hint of condescension (and Blanche is not subtle about it). It’s a lot, and frankly, Baldwin is not up to the task. He really gets the slimy part of Stanley, but there is too much slime and not enough charm.

The movie was made for TV and it looks a little cheaper and older than you’d think (I would have thought it was shot in the 80s rather than the 90s), but the music is surprisingly good and it really captures this hot, humid summer atmosphere that made me feel like it was about 15 degrees hotter than it was (maybe I should have watched it in winter).

So, there are some things that the film gets very, very right, and others where it didn’t quite match my vision of the paly, but overall, I’d say, it’s worth watching, especially if you are a fan of the play.

Summarizing: pretty good.