Sunset Boulevard Review

girl by locker says: Sunset Boulevard is a timeless masterpiece and there is so much that I love about it, I hardly know where to begin. In terms of plot, the movie centers around an aging silent film star, Norma Desmond (played by Gloria Swanson), trapped in time and clinging to her glory days. She takes in (or traps) a penniless young writer by the name of Joe Gillis (William Holden). From this pairing, Billy Wilder takes us on a harsh journey into the realities of Hollywood, what one must do to get ahead and then what happens to them when their moment has passed.

Billy Wilder took chances with this movie using real movies, names and actors to comment on his own industry. The silent film heyday only ended about 22 years before this movie premiered so many of the stars were still around. In fact, there is a great scene in which Norma Desmond is playing bridge with some of her former silent movie stars and we see Buster Keaton as himself. Norma and Joe would frequently watch movies together and the movies were always old silent movies Norma starred in (though in reality they were old Gloria Swanson silent movies). He even tossed in some Gone With the Wind references in which a producer kicks himself for passing it up because “Who wants to watch a movie about the Civil War?”

The acting is impeccable. I have read that this is Gloria Swanson’s greatest role and though I haven’t seen anything else with her in it, I can easily believe this is her best. She knocked it out of the park, and I actually felt pain for her character. It was so real. Whether it is someone who can’t get past his game winning touchdown in high school or an aging movie star holding on to her fading brilliance, we know people who can’t let go and live in the present.

To me, that is what makes this movie truly timeless - the theme. It is interesting how each era we find ourselves in, the glory days were only just before it. Even in the 1950’s, an era we now consider “golden” in Hollywood history, people thought the movies were better a decade or two before because “they don’t make them like they used to.” Producers have always been in it for the money and humanity has always used one another to get ahead in life. Nothing ever really changes.

I could go on. The cinematography, the other actors, the set, the house, the dead monkey…but I will simply just say that I rate this movie 5/5 on Netflix and would recommend putting it in your queue.


Juror #3 says: Sunset Boulevard had me engaged from the opening scene, with the daring music beating over the street curb title. Billy Wilder isn't considered a master for nothing, he uses every tool available to move the story forward and keep the audience alive. William Holden plays a down-and-out screenwriter who meets a former silent screen star (Gloria Swanson) looking for her rebound back into Hollywood. The two performances are masterful and complement each other in a ying-yang way, and in a slightly eery way as well. There are several one-liners I recognized but was unfamiliar that they were born from this film. As the movie was coming to an end I thought to myself, "it was good, I liked it." And then comes the final performance from Gloria Swanson - which catapults the movie into the "chills up the arm" category. There was however one part of the movie that surprised me, and I'm still trying to figure it out. Maybe someone here can help me. Why did Joe (Holden) cast away Betty? Was he so over Hollywood that he just couldn't continue on anymore? Other than that bit of mystery, I rate Sunset Boulevard a 5/5 stars.