Hollywood still the same

The Cat's Meow - R
Starring: Edward Herrmann, Kirsten Dunst, Eddi Izzard
Directed by: Peter Bogdanovich
Showing: Showplace East 11 More scandalous than Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman and more mysterious than why J. Lo is getting a divorce is the story of a William Randolph Hearst's (Edward Herrmann) boat party n November of 1924. Not even the exact names of who was on board are known to this day. The story is never the same, and the faces are always changing in one of Hollywood's best-kept secrets. With an exceptional cast, "The Cat's Meow" tells one side of the story and does so rather well. Kirsten Dunst illuminates the screen as Marion Davies, Hearst's mistress and an aspiring young actress. Like most Hollywood relationships, Marion isn't only the love interest of Hearst, but also Charlie Chaplin (Eddie Izzard). In a time when the press was eating up good gossip just as much as it does now, the love affairs between the three were quickly discovered, as well as the affairs of the other people on board. The parties are glamorous and the moonshine delicious, but it turns to disaster when someone is fatally shot. While the love affairs are the gunman's motive, they quickly become the least of anyone's worries. This is easily Dunst's best performance thus far. She proves her acting abilities in "The Cat's Meow" by taking on a more serious role in a different time period. Herrmann completely blew me away with his interpretation of William Randolph Hearst, one of America's most mysterious historical figures. In reality, the case was closed, and the press never gave the story much coverage until Hearst's death years later. The mysteries surrounding the movie and its plot are what makes it such a great film. For a change from this summer's typical sights and sounds, "The Cat's Meow" offers something different and historical.