From Abe to Golda: Film titles promise too much

There’s a movie mini-trend that’s worth grumbling about.
It can be summed up as: Promise a pound (via the title); deliver a couple ounces.
Mind you, we can’t grumble too loudly. This has been used by the world’s greatest director (Steven Spielberg) and has spawned two Academy Award-winning performances; but it’s also been used for small and rather disappointing films.
That comes to mind now as Showtime has the 2023 “Golda” (shown here), at 8:15 p.m. Thursday (Jan. 25). It’s a worthy little film, but a mere fraction of what we might expect. And it’s part of a long trend, for good or bad:
— “Lincoln” (2012) is a great film that won Oscars for Daniel Day-Lewis and the set design, plus 10 other nominations, including best picture and Spielberg.
But the title suggests a sweeping profile; the film focuses on a brief, heroic stretch in which Lincoln struggles to pass the amendment that would finally abolish slavery.
— “Judy” (2019) is the other Oscar-winner, this time for Renee Zellweger. She’s terrific, but the title seems to promise an overview of Judy Garland’s epic life; the film mostly sticks to a brief moment in London, late in her life.
— “Stan & Ollie (2018) follows the same formula – once-great act, now in late-career British performances. Like “Judy,” it included a few token flashbacks, but mostly catches the end. In this case, Stan Laurel was desperately trying to get one more Laurel-and-Hardy movie made, while the act (and Oliver Hardy’s health) faded. It was well-made, but offered only a grim slice of grand careers.
— “The Iron Lady” (2011) does scoot through the early parts of Margaret Thatcher’s life and his its strong moments. But with Meryl Streep as its star, it spends too much focus on a few things – the six days when Thatcher’s son was missing during a Sahara race, and her own slow decline, including scenes talking to the ghost of her husband, who died 10 years before she did.
— “Golda” (2023) follows that trend, only more so. Again, there’s a brilliant actress (Helen Mirren, right). Again, roadblocks are overcome: Mirren isn’t Jewish, Streep isn’t English, but both are perfect as historic leaders.
And again, alas, the title promises much and the story delivers only a slice. It’s 1973 and Golda Meir, 75, is president of Israel, with war hero Moshe Dayan as her defense minister. An attack leaves them ill-prepared, but their forces recover quickly.
It’s an important story (especially now), but much smaller than expected. Mirren is terrific, as usual, but the visuals are drab and flat.
Certainly, biographical films can go the other way, trying to do too much and simply skimming through. A few (“Patton.” “Elvis,” the Streep portions of “Julie and Julia,” for instance) deliver; many don’t. Lately, we’ve had the so-so “Napoloean” (2023) and the truly wretched “Blonde,” which picked only the lowest moments from Marilyn Monroe’s life.
We expect more, actually. We expect the splendor suggested in such titles as “Lincoln,” “Golda,” “The Iron Lady,” “Judy” or even “Stan & Ollie.”