Less than a year after the tawdry, critically reviled "Liz & Dick" premiered on Lifetime, "Burton and Taylor" makes its stateside premiere on BBC America, announcing its "loftier" artistic intentions right there in a title that promises a more refined approach that the Lindsay Lohan vehicle. We use surnames here on BBC America, thank you very much. By the time in their lives that screenwriter William Ivory chooses to capture them, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor were iconic enough that their last names alone could sell out an entire Broadway run before opening night, as it did in 1983 when the twice-married, twice-divorced celebrities agreed to star in a revival of Noel Coward's "Private Lives." Directed by Richard Laxton and featuring two excellent performances in the title roles from Dominic West and Helena Bonham Carter, "Burton and Taylor" gets to the core of the dynamic between two Hollywood greats who loved and hated each other, simultaneously, and often in the public eye.
It's 1983 and Richard Burton will be dead in just over a year while Elizabeth Taylor will have very publicly entered Betty Ford for her addiction to pills. "Private Lives" was the last chapter in the spotlight for a couple that seemed to defy simple categorization and "Burton and Taylor" captures that sense of a setting sun on a once-bright duo, largely through the strength of its excellent performances. The film makes an interesting case that one of the elements that worked so strongly against this pair throughout their lives was how differently they viewed fame and their careers. As he explains, Burton acted opposite Taylor in their first screen pairing while she just WAS "Cleopatra." "Burton and Taylor" chronicles the actor working hard to make "Private Lives" work while the actress hadn't even read the play when she agreed to do it. Their different styles often complimented each other professionally but led to turmoil in their personal lives.
A key element to the overall success of "Burton and Taylor" is that we have to believe in the chemistry of the actors playing the legendary couple. When you see Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor on film now, it's easy to see why they were so passionate off-screen as well. There's an undefinable spark in their interactions that West and Carter find with grace and ease. They're both very good here on their own but it's the scenes in which they interact that elevate the piece above standard movie history fare. The way Carter finds Taylor's unique speaking pattern and makes it sound real or the look West gives her that somehow carries both love and hatred, it's the little connections between the leads that gives the film its spark. It feels like they have history together, which gives the film a foundation of drama that it wouldn't otherwise have.
"Burton and Taylor" doesn't feel like it sets out to be the definitive statement on either of its characters, just a well-made recreation of their swan song as a celebrity couple. They may have moved on to other relationships by the time they agreed to star in "Private Lives," but they were still "Burton and Taylor," icons of stage and screen. "Liz and Dick" were buried by tabloids, booze, pills, two divorces, and the inevitability of aging. But "Burton and Taylor" carried on.
Brian Tallerico is the Managing Editor of RogerEbert.com, and also covers television, film, Blu-ray, and video games. He is also a writer for Vulture, The Playlist, The New York Times, and GQ, and the President of the Chicago Film Critics Association.