CRYIN' IN THE RAIN,,,.THE SWEET, IMPOSSIBLY SAD "BRIGHT LIGHTS" WITH DEBBIE REYNOLDS AND CARRIE FISHER

BRIGHT LIGHTS; STARRING CARRIE FISHER AND DEBBIE REYNOLDS (2016) reminded us of one of the last sardonic bon mots from Bette Davis...."Aging's not for sissies.."  That witty painfully true observation casts its shadow over this film, which found itself in the position of Most Timely Documentary Ever   ..arriving days after Fisher and Reynolds passed away within a day of each other.

In its candid detailing of Reynolds' and Fisher's singularly unique mother-daughter dynamic(unique in that there's not too many mother-daughter combos who were both show business icons for their generations) the film can't help but depict a sad chronicle of Debbie Reynolds' deteriorating health. Unlike many of her film contemporaries who long ago retired and fled the public eye as aging took its expected toll, Reynolds had show-biz so built into her DNA, she couldn't....and wouldn't leave performing and the adoration of audiences.   Simultaneously amusing, confounding and alarming her daughter, Debbie Reynolds gamely continued her nightclub act, even though she could barely walk.

While Reynolds refuses to go gently into that good night, Fisher,conveniently also her next door neighbor,  muses (and often sings along) with her mother, deploying her piercing laser wit on their lives together.... ....recounting Reynolds' career as a reigning American Sweetheart thrown into notoriety and chaos by her atrocious, worthless husbands and Fisher's equally extraordinary life as a pop culture touchstone, incisive raconteur, and survivor of addictions and mental illness. You can only helplessly watch the now ironic scenes of Carrie Fisher, appearing in relatively good health, bemoaning the fact of her mother's lifeforce, that of a 30 year old, trapped inside a failing body.

Given the tragic circumstances, the indelible, individual moments in this film take on a poignancy that's almost impossible to watch......Fisher at the bedside of the emaciated, dying Eddie Fisher, who famously left her mother for Elizabeth Taylor.....Reynolds once again energizing herself on stage, singing her one pop music hit, the title song from her film "Tammy."....and truly  revelatory footage of a fifteen year old Fisher appearing as part of her mother's nightclub act and  displaying a superb singing voice.

The directors of "Bright Lights", Alexis Bloom and Fisher Stevens, couldn't have imagined their film, a quirky,amusing and melancholy examination of two remarkable women, would suddenly become a eulogy for its subjects. But Fate's a bitch, as we all know.......the movie, for the most part, nimbly skates through Fisher and Reynolds' life.....it wasn't meant to function as the final word on their lives.....and that's fine with us.....cause like everyone else,  we don't want to believe they're really gone. Beached Quill give a full five stars *****, a FIND OF FINDS.