Jessica Lange's role in "Feud: Bette and Joan" is certain to reap critical praise, but to see why she's Minnesota's greatest actor, check out these underappreciated performances:
5 films that show the mastery of Minnesota's Jessica Lange
March 2, 2017 at 9:01PM
"Frances" (1982): "Tootsie," released the same year, won her the Oscar, but Lange shines even brighter in this biopic about actress Frances Farmer, whose promising career unraveled after she suffered a mental breakdown and was institutionalized. (On Amazon and DVD)
"Cat on a Hot Tin Roof" (1984): Lange finally won a Tony last year for Eugene O'Neill's "Long Day's Journey Into Night," but she was born to play Tennessee Williams heroines. Unfortunately, her 1995 film of "A Streetcar Named Desire" is difficult to find. (DVD and Netflix)
"Country" (1984): Even at the peak of her popularity, Lange stayed committed to "message" movies, the best of which is this portrait of an Iowa farm couple — with Sam Shepard as her husband — facing foreclosure. (DVD)
"Men Don't Leave" (1990): This portrayal of a widow trying to balance grief and motherhood may be Lange's finest screen performance, with more hilarious set pieces than the premise suggests. (Amazon)
"Normal" (2003): Films about gender transition may be common now, but 15 years ago HBO took a risk in backing a film about a factory worker (Tom Wilkinson) who decides to have a sex-change operation, forcing his wife to make some adjustments of her own. (Netflix and DVD)
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