Mark Reviews Movies: I AM WOMAN

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Review by Mark Dujsik | September 10, 2020

The philosophy of I Am Woman seems pretty obvious: Don't let a potentially good story get in the way of the formula of biography. There is a lot of potential for a good story within the life of Helen Reddy, the once-famous singer who rose to cultural prominence when her "I Am Woman" became the unofficial anthem of the feminist movement of the 1970s. That potential, though, simply isn't present within this telling.

Emma Jensen's screenplay is little more than everything we've come to expect from a dramatized biography of a musician. Helen (played with endless charm by Tilda Cobham-Hervey) arrives in New York City, her young daughter in tow, from her native Australia, believing she has won a recording contract with a major label. That doesn't happen, so living out of a cheap hotel room, the aspiring singer performs low-paying gigs, forms a friendship with music journalist Lillian Roxon (Danielle Macdonald), and starts a romance with up-and-coming talent manager Jeff Wald (Evan Peters).

Director Unjoo Moon's movie attempts to connect Reddy's story to the feminist movement of her time, seeing Helen be underpaid for early performances, become a housewife for an increasingly agitated Jeff (We spend the whole of the story waiting for the big betrayal), and, after getting a contract, have her creative desires constantly questioned by rooms filled with men. It's a smart idea and one that adds some political bite to a story that is otherwise wholly familiar.

Familiarity reigns, though. There are montages of success—stage performances and television appearances and scenes of Helen going through her daily life intercut with images of her song climbing the charts. One character's eventual death is telegraphed with the cliché of a mounting cough. Jeff becomes more and more controlling, while Helen stands by her man for unknowable reasons.

The biggest problem here, perhaps, is that, in the story's predictable focus on success and the price of fame, any sign of Helen's own beliefs, wants, and accomplishments is overshadowed by the requirements of formula—not to mention the industry and her husband constantly working to keep her down. Large parts of Helen's life and career are bypassed, just to fit in another song or another scene of Jeff revealing himself to be a cad. I Am Woman tells of the highs and lows of Reddy's life, but it doesn't tell us much about her.

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