Woman of the Hour

Grade: B+

Even at just 95 minutes, Woman of the Hour keeps a few plates spinning. There’s the aspiring actress plotline, the true crime murder docuthriller, and the running theme of sexism/misogyny – and how far we may or may not have come since the 1970s. It’s an impressive achievement from star and first-time director Anna Kendrick.

I’ll get back to how Kendrick fits into everything in a moment. Woman of the Hour is, in part, a chronicle of Rodney Alcala, known as the Dating Game Killer. Under the guise of being a photographer of impressionable young women who wanted a career in front of the camera, he preyed upon them, and then kidnapped, raped, and murdered them – not necessarily in that order. Somehow, he made it onto an episode of The Dating Game in 1978. Bachelor #3.

Kendrick plays Cheryl Bradshaw, an aspiring actress in California. She can’t seem to get past audition limbo. Matters aren’t helped by the cigarette smoking male casting directors, who, when they’re not half-listening at best, ask her questions like “Are you willing to do nudity? Show off the twins? Come on, I’m sure they’re just fine!” Charming, huh? Cheryl is close to throwing in the towel and moving, but her agent calls with news that they booked her for an appearance on The Dating Game, as a bachelorette. A bit beneath her, and not the kind of work she was looking for, but TV is TV, and may be the springboard she needs. Sally Field was on the show, after all. Throughout the film, we sporadically get scenes – taking place both before and after Rodney’s appearance on the show with Cheryl – of encounters he had with young women, most of which didn’t end well.

Cheryl’s appearance on The Dating Game is a wonderful sequence. Before the show, Ed Burke, the host (Tony Hale from Inside Out 2, Hocus Pocus 2, Being the Ricardos, and Toy Story 4) instructs her to “not act so smart.” She’s told to be bubbly, a little clueless, and to smile and shrug a lot. However, one of the hair/makeup women says “just be yourself and have fun. This isn’t a sitcom. You won’t be back next week.” At first, Cheryl plays the game, so to speak, but after the first commercial break, she goes off-script with some cerebral, arcane questions for the three bachelors. Only Rodney can keep up, leaving the other two guys in the dust. She chooses Rodney, and I’ll leave you to find out what happens further. And I’m just now mentioning that meanwhile, a member of the studio audience recognizes him as the photographer behind her best friend’s murder – and so she wanders the studio in an attempt to find somebody to report it. The way she is merely humored and placated is unpredictable, even if I had a feeling it would happen somehow. The construction and execution of this whole segment reminded me of the best parts of Late Night with the Devil – out earlier this year, and also set during the taping of a live 1970s TV show.

We conclude on February 14 of the following year. As this is based on a true story, you can look up what happened (and why, and how) on Valentine’s Day 1979. It was new to me, and I thought it was clever and brilliant. And to think that really happened. There is much to admire and love about Woman of the Hour. It’s my opinion and interpretation that the title isn’t referring to Kendrick’s character. I think it’s about someone else. You’ll know what I mean.

Grade: B+