Liza: A Truly Terrific Absolutely True Story - Official Trailer — Page 2

morosco said: "Is there any discussion in the documentary that might shed some light on why she has never received a well deserved Kennedy Center Honor?"

Her glory days were her early days. Most people who win Kennedy Center Honors did great work for decades and remained influential, often even active, until being honored.

She won everything else in her first 10 years in the biz, which is a pretty amazing accomplishment in and of itself.

Updated On: 2/1/25 at 11:36 AM

Oh, for crying out loud, people thought this was going to be probing?? It's a celebrity press release-doc! What did you think she was going to say? Tell stories about Mama vomiting in her crib or Peter Allen coming home with his fingers smelling like balls?

Just watch and enjoy the Liza of it all.

nealb1 said: "Saw the film last week at the Laemelle Glendale and really, really enjoyed it. So great to see so much archival footage from back when that wasn't the norm, like it is now. Will see it again this weekend.

And, even better news to find out that it will air on PBS on April 1st.

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/LIZA-A-TRULY-TERRIFIC-ABSOLUTELY-TRUE-STORY-to-Air-on-PBS-20250211"

I'm excited to see it -- if for nothing more than the much talked about archival footage!

But...seems a little ironic that a documentary whose subject has had a tenous relationship to the truth -- and is subtitled "A Truly Terrifc, Absolutely True Story" -- is airing on April 1, April Fool's Day!

TheatreMonkey, you're not the only one who has said that - about the truth. What is Liza not telling the truth about? The few that have commented, haven't explained what isn't truthful. Do you know?

nealb1 said: "TheatreMonkey, you're not the only one who has said that - about the truth. What is Liza not telling the truth about? The few that have commented, haven't explained what isn't truthful. Do you know?"

I know people who were close to her orbit during some of these times and indeed always laugh at her interviews, because she does indeed create the studio official press release version of the events.

And I never press, so I don't know what an example is, but in a way it's a shame there isn't a more full picture accounting of such an incredible life. But I'll take this!

BrodyFosse123 and BRJ, it was interesting when Michael F said that Liza rarely speaks of her relationships, and keeps it private. Could be why she has a standard response. Never knew that David G took everything when they divoriced. It was a funny moment when Liza was with Michele Lee, and she said something to the effect of Liza's husbands never being men, and they all laughed.

Went to see this at IFC on a whim. It is fluff but enjoyable and with some good footage, some familiar from YouTube and some not. Once both Chita Rivera (alas briefly) and John Kander both appeared as interviews I hoped we might get a *little* mention of what happened around The Rink but no, it feels like an old DVD special feature in terms of keeping things pretty on-the-surface positive. People in the theater snickered when Liza said in an old interview that there was no drug use going on in her nights at Studio 54, though her struggles were briefly touched on at the end.

Yeah, the "no drug use at Studio 54" comment elicited guffaws from the audience I saw it with in West Los Angeles last week (where the honorable Bruce Vilanch happened to be in attendance).

I too was bugged that after 2 hours of footage (some of it glorious), Liza still had nothing to say about her propensity to marry gay guys, or her substance addictions during shows like The Rink (everything was chalked up to prescription meds), or even a simple statement of her specific physical ailments that so hobble her today.

The Liza of old always prided herself on her naked honesty as a performer. That naked honesty is what we were really hoping for in this doc but didn't quite get.

BrodyFosse123 said: "nealb1 said: "TheatreMonkey, you're not the only one who has said that - about the truth. What is Liza not telling the truth about? The few that have commented, haven't explained what isn't truthful. Do you know?"

What they’re referring to is her standard vague diplomatic manner that she responds to personal stuff. Even when she responds to questions about her last husband, David Gest, she always cracks jokes and ends those questions with her trademark cackle. She never opens up honestly. There’s always a reservation to how honest her responses are. They’re always diplomatic responses. We learned more about living with Judy Garland from her sister Lorna’s book."

That's exactly what I was getting at -- and that's leaving rumor and hearsay aside. And whilst I totally understand -- and agree with -- a person's right to keep certain things private, you'd think at some point they'd want to at least acknowledge what was plainly true (or seems to be). None of this to knock one helluva career and life -- it would just be interesting to finally see beyond the cultivated public persona.

BrodyFosse123 said: "Sadly, this documentary wasn't directed by the fantasticLaurent Bouzereau. His documentaries are on such a level and heavily regarded. For his recent one on Faye Dunaway titled FAYE, he was able to have her completely open up about her life, career, and legendary manic behavior in full transparency. Heck, the opening moments of the documentary he showed the infamous clip of Bette Davis on The Johnny Carson Show speaking ill of Faye then moments later he shows Faye being controlling and demanding as they're setting up to film her for the documentary. It immediately addressed that the documentary was not going to be a fluff piece and as with all his documentaries, you end up understanding where her manic episodes stemmed from and you go away loving and adoring her for everything she is.

It would have been refreshing to see Liza open up completely and truly speak about her life and career like Faye Dunaway did in this documentary:

"

BrodyFosse123, the Faye documentary was really very good. It was raw and real. What touched me the most, was how much her son, loves her. Seeing him getting choked up at the end when speaking about his mother, was extremely touching. There was that brief snippet of a newspaper headline that showed when she was let go from "Sunset Blvd" in Los Angeles from 1994. I had tickets to see it.

It's quite possible that the film makers of Liza's doc were told there were certain subjects that she didn't want to discuss. Or, perhaps those topics were discussed and filmed, and cut out? Who knows? It's always so easy to speculate on things we know nothing about. Looking forward to seeing it again.

Perhaps Liza will be more in depth about certain subject when writing her autobiography.

Updated On: 2/13/25 at 11:13 AM

This is available to rent or purchase digitally now. DVD and Blu-ray coming April 1st.

dan94 said: "I love Liza. While it's definitely worth seeing, I had some reservations with this doc.

I didn't really feel one way or another about Michael Feinstein before the doc. But I feel he came off poorly here. It spends a lot of screen time with him as a narrator saying "Liza felt this way", "Liza feels this", "Liza wants people to know", etc. If there were places she wouldn't go in contemporary interviews for the doc, I feel like there are historical interviews they could have pulled on to make some of Feinstein's points, rather than having him narrate. He even got around at one point to "Kander and Ebb were furious they had to rewrite the title song to NYNY." You got John Kander for an interview. Get John Kander to tell that story. When Feinstein had 'real time' stories about working with Liza or hanging out with Liza, it was lovely. It didn't work for me to have him as a narrator speaking for her though.

I do hope the memoir is good. The doc is good, but I honestly found Liza's Inside the Actor's Studio a touch more revealing."


Great review. I thoroughly enjoyed the film given her health issues but I do agree it was way too much reliant on Feinstein and the retired dentist and his wife - a very odd sequence. Regardless, was fun. I saw it at the IFC on a big screen which seemed appropriate.