Divine Madness (1980)

For all the hype it got I was expecting a lot more!

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

Bette Midler is truly a versatile performer. She can sing and act better than the rest of perrformers today. Her taped show is a great example of her abilities to truly dazzle the crowd. She still does that today 25 years after this concert has aired. Bette comes alive on stage more so than in film or television. In this taping, she really is at her best and peak despite her personal problems. I was hoping to see Katey Sagal as one of her Harlettes but she wasn't in this one. My best advice to Bette is to go back on tour. I never did understand the mermaid thing but Bette takes it to a new level. She has an amazing energy and can belt out "the Rose" and the songs before she returned in 1986. This taping must have happened before her nervous breakdown. Bette has performed everywhere imaginable from gay bathhouses in Greenwich Village to Radio City Music Hall uptown. This taped version is quite an event without pushing the envelope even by today's standard. She is still pretty tame in comparison and she can teach the younger generation of performers that you don't have to bare it all to grab their attention. Bette knows that people have paid good money to be entertained by her and she does that. She always does that and that's why she is one of the best live performers of our generation. Sing on, Bette.

I wanted to like it, because Bette Midler circa 1980 was someone you'd like to like. And you can see previews of future acts from Madonna to Hedwig (one of the Harlettes is even named "Hedwig"). But ... well, there's no nice way to say it, and her fans would disagree, but Bette Midler's a kinda awful singer, goes flat on a regular basis, not flat like when Lucinda Williams lets her twang get the best of her, but flat as in missing the note. And while I admire Midler's desire to sing rock, and she's better at it than Barbra Streisand, "Fire Down Below" is mostly awful, and this Bruce fan cringed when she threw in a bit of "E Street Shuffle." Kael loved Midler, and I can see why, but I give it a 5 on a scale of 10.

Right on the heels of the smash success of "The Rose," "Divine Madness" is Bette in concert - but not the usual Bette in concert up to that point. This is rock and roll, with even some punk rock thrown in ("Paradise") that couldn't have been better nailed if the Sex-Pistols themselves did it. Bette wails on Bob Seger's "Fire Down Below" and blows the roof off the Pasadena Civic Auditorium. Ironically, Bette had the flu when this was filmed, and doesn't like the sound quality of it. Still, "Stay With Me" rips your heart out. Her cover of the Stones' "You Can't Always Get What You Want" mixes with Dylan's "I Shall Be Released" perfectly. And of course, plenty of biting Midler language, vulgarities, and enough camp to keep everyone happy. Anyone questioning whether Midler should be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, this concert alone answers a resounding YES.

I can watch this over and over again. After watching The Rose, I HAD to see this, so I went out and rented it. So what if her jokes are corny, she can sing. I can't wait until I get to see her in december. Rent this if you want to see a good performance by a wonderful singer.