Directing: B
Writing: B
Cinematography: B
Editing: B

I should have done more research on Being Mary Tyler Moore beforehand. This is premiering on HBO a week from today. Why bother wasting a SIFF ticket on it?

I was hardly the only person to do so. I saw this at the Uptown Theater and, of the four SIFF films I have seen thus far, this had by far the largest crowd—more people in this audience than at even any regular-release film I’ve seen since probably last summer. This is a testament to the enduring legacy of Mary Tyler Moore, I suppose.

The woman was an icon, no doubt about it—and in a way that transcended the gross overuse of that word. The irony is that Mary Tyler Moore’s characters, particularly Laura Petrie and Mary Richards, were more interesting than she was. It may be fair to say that the documentary Being Mary Tyler Moore is the definitive record of Moore’s entire life, but far more is to be gained by watching The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961-1966) or The Mary Tyler Moore Show (1970-1977), both of which hold up shockingly well. The latter remains more forward thinking than about three quarters of any network series on today.

It would seem that Mary Tyler Moore, more than anything, was simply a vessel for a persona. This film suggests the real her is a lot closer to Beth Jarrett, the cold, grieving mother in Ordinary People (1980) for which Moore was nominated for an Academy Award. And Moore did endure far more than her fair share of tragedy, with a sister who died at age 21 from an overdose; a son who died at age 24 from a gun accident (amazingly, only a month after the release of Ordinary People), and a brother who died of kidney cancer at age 47.

On the upside, her third marriage was apparently the charm, with a man 18 years younger than her and who stayed with her 34 years, until her own death at the age of 80 in 2017.

That was six years ago. Why we’re getting this documentary now, as opposed to five years ago, is unclear. Except: this woman’s career and legacy remains as relevant as it ever was. Even all the way back during the Dick Van Dyke Show, Moore ironically played a housewife while pushing boundaries for American women: she was the first woman to wear pants on television, and was herself a working wife and mother offscreen. Nothing, of course, could possibly match the legacy of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, which depicted a single woman, totally fulfilled by her personal and professional life, content to find and land a man if she can but comfortable with the outcome if doesn’t. This show aired in the era of Roe v. Wade, a bittersweet memory now if there ever was one.

And I certainly don’t mean to suggest that Mary Tyler Moore herself is uninteresting. She led a life worth examining. It’s just that she herself can never stack up to the characters she played, which is what causes an unfortunately muted effect to this film about her. Of course she was much more than Laura Petrie or Mary Richards: she had ups and downs on both Broadway and in film. She was later diagnosed with diabetes. But are any of these things as interesting as the enduringly groundbreaking TV shows she was an integral part of?

Being Mary Tyler Moore is a pretty standard documentary, about a deeply talented but slightly indecipherable woman, who played a couple of characters who will be (and already have been) remembered for generations. If you’re just a casual fan, then you could take or leave this film. If you really love her, you’ll like the movie. It might be of more interest to know, however, that The Dick Van Dyke Show is now streaming on Peacock and The Mary Tyler Moore Show is streaming on Prime Video.

*She was just a bit more than what you saw onscreen.*

Overall: B