Tea with Mussolini 1999, Rated PG MGM Home Entertainment

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Starring Cher, Judi Dench, et al. Released to DVD on November 16, 1999.

Cher's acting career, much like her hair, is an enigma. After winning a Best Actress Oscar in 1987 for the heartwarming film Moonstruck, she waited some three years before returning to the silver screen in 1990's Mermaids. After a cameo in The Player, a bit part in Ready to Wear and the thoroughly forgettable Faithful, Cher makes yet another triumphant return in Franco Zeffirelli's Tea with Mussolini. The only trouble with this return though is the lack of quality and triumph in the end product. Set in Italy just prior to World War II, Tea with Mussolini is filled with an unlikably pompous, elderly female character contingent-played by actresses Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Joan Plowright-and lectures about proper dinner table etiquette and "learning to become a gentleman". Cher's screen presence is delightful, but, for the most part, this is more an effort at nabbing a Best Costumes Academy Award than anything else.