The only saving grace of this film is Spencer Tracy. As others have commented, it is an autobiography by Ruth Gordon. But I think whomever said it was a wonderful tribute to Gordon's father must have seen another film. Although Tracy does a wonderful job of acting, his part is of a grumpy, depressed man not the sentimental study other readers seem to think it was. She comes across as the young girl with talent that no one was bright enough to recognize with a boy mooning over her and everyone fighting against her dreams.
This is a self-serving autobiography by Ruth Gordon and I personally hope her parents, or at least her father, never saw this portrayal of themselves.
There are moments of comedy here, again Spencer Tracy showing his wide range of talents. But perhaps the funniest bit of the film is Ruth Gordon thinking she looked like Jean Simmons (or at least going along with the casting). If you look at her photos on IMDb or do a Google search, she looked nothing like Jean Simmons but was always a great actress, or had to be, to get by on her acting despite her homely looks.
As others have said, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn were longtime friends of Ruth Gordon and her husband Garson Kanin. What others didn't mention is that Gordon and Kanin used that friendship to write a tell-all book about their friends. Again a self-serving action and (to my mind) betrayal. And Hepburn never spoke to them again.
This is a self-serving autobiography by Ruth Gordon and I personally hope her parents, or at least her father, never saw this portrayal of themselves.
There are moments of comedy here, again Spencer Tracy showing his wide range of talents. But perhaps the funniest bit of the film is Ruth Gordon thinking she looked like Jean Simmons (or at least going along with the casting). If you look at her photos on IMDb or do a Google search, she looked nothing like Jean Simmons but was always a great actress, or had to be, to get by on her acting despite her homely looks.
As others have said, Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn were longtime friends of Ruth Gordon and her husband Garson Kanin. What others didn't mention is that Gordon and Kanin used that friendship to write a tell-all book about their friends. Again a self-serving action and (to my mind) betrayal. And Hepburn never spoke to them again.