Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me
Film poster
Directed byChiemi Karasawa
Produced byChiemi Karasawa
Elizabeth Hemmerdinger
StarringElaine Stritch
CinematographyShane Sigler
Joshua Z. Weinstein
Rod Lamborn
Edited byKjerstin Rossi
Pax Wassermann
Music byKristopher Bowers
Distributed bySundance Selects
Release dates
  • April 19, 2013 (2013-04-19) (Tribeca Film Festival)
  • February 20, 2014 (2014-02-20) (United States)
Running time
81 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$288,896[1]

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me is a 2013 American documentary film directed by Chiemi Karasawa about the life and career of Elaine Stritch.[2] Alec Baldwin and Broadway producer Cheryl Wiesenfeld served as executive producers on the film. Karasawa and crew began filming Stritch in 2011, following her life at age 86.[3] The film's theatrical release in February 2014[2] preceded Stritch's death that July.[4]

Subjects

In addition to Stritch, several close friends and collaborators appear in the film:

The film was dedicated to the memory of Gandolfini, who died during its production.[5]

Release

Several film festivals screened the documentary through 2013. The film's limited release in US theaters on 21 February 2014[2] was followed by video on demand,[6] then available on Netflix.[7]

Reception

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me holds a 99% rating at Rotten Tomatoes from 67 reviews, with an average score of 7.89/10. The critical consensus reads: "Brutally honest and utterly compelling, Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me offers a riveting, vanity-free portrait of its legendary subject while offering a few essential truths about the human condition."[8]

Jake Coyle of The Associated Press called it "an irresistibly entertaining documentary that captures Stritch during what she unsentimentally calls 'almost post-time.' After seven decades performing in New York — on Broadway, in countless cabaret nights at the Cafe Carlyle — Stritch's enormous energy has been knocked by the increasing years, diabetes, and surgeries on her hip and eyes. But Shoot Me, made over the last few years, is a document not of Stritch's dwindling, but of her feisty persistence."[9]

References

  1. ^ "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 15 April 2014. Domestic Total as of Apr. 13, 2014
  2. ^ a b c Holden, Stephen (20 February 2014). "Recalling Velvet, Pretzels and Beer, She's Still Here". The New York Times. Retrieved 22 February 2014.
  3. ^ "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me". Rolling Stone. February 21, 2014.
  4. ^ Weber, Bruce (18 July 2014). "Elaine Stritch, Broadway's Enduring Dame, Dies at 89". The New York Times. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  5. ^ "James Gandolfini died of cardiac arrest". News24. Associated Press. June 20, 2013. Archived from the original on December 9, 2018. Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  6. ^ Hetrick, Adam (17 March 2014). ""Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me" Documentary Now Available On Demand". Playbill.com. Archived from the original on 18 March 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2014.
  7. ^ Bernstein, Paula (25 July 2014). "8 New Documentaries Streaming on Netflix Now: 'Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me,' 'Gideon's Army' and More". Indiewire. Retrieved 16 September 2014.
  8. ^ "Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved 20 May 2020.
  9. ^ Coyle, Jake (26 March 2014). "Movie review: 'Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me'". Associated Press. Retrieved 15 April 2014.