Movie review - "Stage Beauty" (2004) **

Terrific idea - what happens to male female performers when women are allowed on stage - never quite hits the mark. Maybe it works better onstage, where we get to see the "female"performances in a longer form. Also the film never seems quite able to reconcile its sexual politics -Billy Crudup is gay, OK I get that, but then he has this sort of romance with Clare Danes (a bit vanilla) - but that would mean that playing a man turns him butch, and the film flinches away from that and sort of comes up with an open ending. It's like it wants to be Hollywood but also PC. It also bucks against the inherent tragedy/sadness of the situation (many of these actors will never find work again, like the coming of sound), by having him re-invent himself as a director who discovers method acting which is a bit irritating. Indeed, despite the bright set up the film never seems to get in its stride. Rupert Everett is fun as Charles II.