by Daniel White
Perhaps one day some brave film scholar will spearhead a study into Elizabeth Taylor's post "Virginia Woolf" movie career. Then again, perhaps not. Certain things are better left unscrutinized - their contents too disturbing for the human psyche to digest. Ranked number seven on American Film Institute's list of the greatest actresses of all time, Miss Taylor has her legion of devoted, worshipful fans. I am not one of them. A beautiful woman of modest talent, I don't find her screen presence all that compelling. Bright enough to pick up the rudiments of mugging effectively for the camera, La Taylor managed to produce a handful of competent performances and even bagged a couple of Oscars. But I think her greatest accomplishment was away from a soundstage. As a tireless crusader for AIDS research (and compassion), Elizabeth Taylor delivered her profoundest role. Actress? Meh. Humanitarian? Magnificent.
Unfortunately, she's the best thing in X Y & Zee, a 1972 British drama about a London couple and their discordant marriage. Liz and Michael Caine are the headache-inducing duo. Annoying and strident being their more admirable qualities, five minutes into this flick, I wanted to shut them both up. Taylor is slightly less insufferable, only because Caine comes off as a bully. She looks fabulous too, in swinging seventies outfits. The soundtrack is boss to boot, with Liz blasting rock music while running around her London pad looking sensational.
But fun frocks and tuneful jams aren't enough to save this doleful mess. Even the talented Susannah York fails to resuscitate it. As Caine's sensible mistress, she soon turns as tiresome as Liz 'n Mick. In the end, when lascivious Liz goes all lesbian on poor Susannah, I'd had enough. X Y & Zee went from the tedious to the ludicrous. That's when I went for the remote. Distributed by Columbia Pictures, with Margaret Leighton as a London hostess who rivals our Liz in fashion fabulousness, X Y & Zee is currently available on Tubi.
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