OK, so I'm a bit late to this party, but, no one in my house really cares for documentaries of any kind, (Or even Mockumentaries for that matter), so even though I've had this one for a bit, I didn't quite have a chance to watch it until this morning. Life is rough sometimes, righ...? Anyway, I can't say that I was all that familiar with Elaine Stritch prior to her playing Colleen Donaghy on my beloved 30 Rock. I've never been big on Broadway or anything relating to it. Perhaps my lower middle class upbringing in North Texas which made Broadway feel like another world away, if not another universe away, but it was just never my thing. That said, and after watching this gem of a profile, I feel like I've fully missed out by not growing up listening to the musical stylings of this lovely lady.
The documentary, filled with loving talking heads about Elaine's talent and zest for life, certainly got me up to speed on all that I'd missed through the years. Filled with recordings of her throughout her career and focusing on the one-woman shows she put together in her last few years of life, I was taken on an emotional journey that went from goosebumps while listening to some of her earlier recordings to cracking up with laughter at some of the clips from her more recent shows.
On a personal note, nothing quite got to me like watching her watch herself on 30 Rock, allowing herself some commentary on what the scene could use and then seeing her face light up when the emotional moment she'd hope for earlier in the scene actually showed up.
Shoot Me also takes you to a serious moment of reflection for Ms. Stritch when she is taken to Mount Sinai for a bit of an extended stay. I was pretty near tears at this point in the flick, but as Elaine was on the screen talking about how she'd been thinking about what kind of picture she'd be leaving behind when all is said and done, it occurred to me that she was leaving behind this beautiful life full of doing wonderful things that most people couldn't even dream of accomplishing. The picture of her life that she left be hind was more full and vibrant than most of us could hope for and she'd done it just by throwing herself into doing things she loved.
This was a really touching portrait of an amazing lady that we so recently lost, and for me, it was worth watching every second of it just to see more of the woman behind Colleen Donaghy.
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