Product Description

With little persuasion, Jenny is soon sleeping with, then discarding, every man in Paris, setting off a chain of disastrous events that ensnares almost everyone in its web - everyone, that is, except Cousin Bette. Who knew adultery, financial ruin, life - threatening duels and murder could be such fun?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #30145 in DVD
• Released on: 1998-12-22
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

Customer Reviews

astonishing
Cousin Bette should've won Jessica Lange an Oscar nomination. She proved once and for all that she's a serious big league actress. This is a delicious revenge drama. Good old Cousin Bette is a spider who spins a web of death, financial ruin and humiliation for her foolish, selfish relatives. The other notables performance is by Elizabeth Shue who does her best work as Jennie the courtesan. She reminded me of Nicole Kidman as Satine in Moulin Rouge. Bob Hoskins is great as usual and Hugh Laurie does a grand job as the lecherous father. The only thing wrong with this film are the continutity problems and the glaring fact that Jessica Lange is no hag. It makes no sense that no man in the film couldn't see that.

Splendid Dark Comedy
Jessica Lange has never been scarier than here in this adaptation of Balzac's revenge novel. This is one of those stories, like "I, Claudius", where everyone gets their just desserts in a very entertaining way. You get to watch from a god-like perch as Lange plots the destruction of everyone who ever abused her. Elizabeth Shue is delectable as a Parisian courtesan. And britcom fans will delight in Hugh Laurie's performance as the foolish, lecherous head of the family. This is one of those hidden treasures that you have to seek out, but you will be glad you did.

Please - before the 1972 videotape disintegrates!
Oh PLEASE - whoever has the rights to dub off the original 1972 Masterpiece Theater TV series of 'Cousin Bette' do so and make it available on DVD. This was one of THE finest shows ever created for television. Truly, it totally eclipses the 1998 movie version and now, 40+ years later, I fear it will soon not be physically possible to render this production to DVD. For the sake of one of the theater (and humanity's) most glorious theatrical efforts, PLEASE make the original TV version available! (BTW - I rate the ORIGINAL item at 5+ STARS!)