Doc. Elaine Stritch Shoot Me - She Does it Her Way

Elaine Stritch is best known for her work on the Great White Way.   Famous playwrights & composers, Stephen Sondheim, Hal Prince Noel Coward have written musicals for her.  She may not be well known to younger generations or non-theatre goers other than as Alec Bladwin's feisty mother on 30 Rock.  Elaine Stritch: Just Shoot Me will awaken a larger, appreciative audience for her boundless talent and indefatigable spirit.   The doc. film is directed by Chiemi Karasaw, founder of Isotope Films ('05) which develops/produces original, non-fiction content.  (Karasaw is seen in Elaine's hospital room near the end of the film.)  This film clearly gives us one bold, bawdy bare naked dame. There is so much life inside her, it comes bursting out of her every pore, every moment.   The miraculous thing is how relatable we feel to her.  Elaine quotes Betty Davis, "getting old is not for sissies."  Elaine doesn't like the word old, "we're all getting older so why not enjoy it."  We given an intimate look at her life;  loves, fears & battles with alcohol.  She turned 87 during the filming and we see her health & memory wane.  Her stories are endlessly amusing & the admiration from showbiz legends is remarkable.  (There is a poignant tribute from James Gandolfini.)  Elaine Stritch Shoot Me is a doc. film that reaches an emotional truth that is sentient to every age.  Elaine Stritch is a woman too consumed with vitality to retire or become "one of the ladies who lunch."