The movie Victor/Victoria is a 1982

Julie Andrews plays Victoria in the 1982 sex comedy Victor/Victoria. Julie Andrews portrays a struggling actress who dresses as a man in the film in order to land a singing gig. The main character of the film, Victoria Grant, is unable to land a singing gig; as a result, she decides to pose as a male singer under the management of Todd, a buddy who has also failed to land a singing gig. She then makes the decision to pose as a man in order to land the singing gig she wants. She gets a job as a male singer because her voice is fascinating considering that she is singing as a man

The movie is based on another German movie shot in the year 1933 titled Viktor Und Viktoria. The movie also touches on the sexuality theme through Todd, who is the manager of Andrews and is in turn gay. Two reviews of this movie are considered in this case and analyzed in terms of the language used by the author, the opinions they express concerning the films and their general views on the themes exhibited throughout the movie. The writing content and the language style used are, therefore, the two elements that are evaluated.

In reference to this review, the content written by the reviewer is analyzed to evaluate the inclusion of the general plot, the themes and the general writing style of the reviewer. According to a review done by Roger Ebert, “The movie is a classic and it is heavily themed with the topic of masculinity in the movie and entertainment industry of the days the movie was shot. The author of this review does a good job in explaining the general plot of the story, where he goes on to talk about the origin of the idea of Andrews pretending to be a man. He goes on further and mentions some of the important happenings in the movie. These include the time when the owner of a nightclub by the name of James Garner ends up falling in love with Andrews, not knowing who she truly is. He refuses to accept that she is a man. He further tells of how the girlfriend of the club owner gets jealous and the ensuing controversies. However, the author of the review does not address the major themes of the movie adequately in his review.

To write a better review, he should have emphasized on the major themes, especially the masculinity in the movie and entertainment industry at that time, for it is impossible not to talk about in a review. This can be owed to the fact that the plot of the movie is developed around this theme and hence it is hard to miss. The fact that Andrews is an extremely skilled performer but ends up missing the opportunity of displaying her skills due to the fact that she is a woman shows the intensity the masculinity in this movie and hence the importance of talking about this theme in any kind of review. He should have included facts about how unfair it was for Andrews to be denied the opportunity to be a singer simply because she was a woman, a role she later gets when she pretends to be a man. The review should also have talked about the various fights in the pubs. The fights add a certain pleasurable violence in the movie although the author of the review simply describes them as not being funny. Without a little sense of violence in the movie, it would have been hard to imagine the pub experiences of the time.

In another review titled The classic canon: Cross-Dressing for Love and Work in Tootsie Victor Victoria, the author pays great attention to the main theme of the movie. The author also does a good job in explaining how the plot starts and how it thickens towards the end. In his review, the author clearly discusses how Victoria has fun with her role as a man, and this makes the movie trickier to watch. The review writes ”Victoria’s experience of masquerading as a man is not nearly as complex as Michael Dorsey’s. Victoria has fun with it, teasing other men when they appear uncomfortable with her feminine features, and often chomping on a large cigar.” This expounds how Victoria takes her new role as a man. This is evident in the real movie where she says that ”there are things available to me that never were as a woman.” The review also discusses the confused romance that happens in the movie with clear distinctive language.

The author of this review can explain most of the major themes in the movie, ranging from the masculinity, the confused sexuality, conflict, love, and other dramatic effects that arise. However, the review does not contain a substantial analysis of the comical effects that are bound to come up in a cross-dressing movie.

The third review of the movie that has been considered in this case is the review written by Vincent Canby. In this review, the author acknowledges the exceptional performance delivered by the main actors in the film, among them Julie Andrews, James Garner and Robert Preston. The author also talks about how splendid the music in the film is. He further recognizes that the sensibilities of the music and the movie as a whole are of the 1980’s despite the fact that the movie is set in the 1930’s. He writes: ”The movie is a farce - a splendid one with music - of a timeless tradition, though its sensibilities are strictly of the 1980’s and its own time is the far distant 1934.”

Looking at this review, it can be said that the author did a great job in analyzing the general plot, and the themes in the movie. He also discusses the comic genius of the Edwards and how he is able to deliver a mastermind movie in a unique way. Therefore, the writing style used in the review is exceptional and there is sufficient content analyzed in the review. However, the author of the review does not include a detailed discussion of how the various themes develop in the movie, for example the review of love. He simply states that ”everyone falls in love with everyone”. He does not tell how this happens and the impact of the love affairs in the movie. Hence, he should have explained how the characters in the movie fall in love with each other and the conflicts that come up as a result of the love triangles.

The various reviews of the movie have a great writing style that is unique to every one of them. The authors have made sure that there are no unnecessary phrases in their paragraphs and that there are no insignificant words in their sentences. Additionally, they have made sure that the information that they give in their reviews is completely accurate as it happened in the movie. However, some of the reviews did not concentrate on the themes of the movie, as they should have to make sure that the review is informative. An example is the review by Roger Ebert. He simply touches the themes of the movie but does not give a clear picture of the various happenings in the movie that portrayed the themes. Therefore, it can be said that the writing styles of the three movie reviews were excellent, but there were issues with the content analysis.

Works Cited

Canby, Vincent. ”’Victor Victoria,’ A Blake Edwards Farce.“ The New York Times, 19 March 1982.

Ebert, Roger. Victor/ Victoria. Roger Ebert Loved Movies, 1982.

The Classic Canon: ”Cross-Dressing for Love and Work in Tootsie and Victor Victoria.“ I Like to Watch (n.d.).