YMMV / The Rose

• He Really Can Act: Midler was praised for her role in the film.
• Tearjerker: Loosely based off of the late Janis Joplin, the biopic's bound to have its moments.
  • Remember the tear-stricken out-of-breath sounding opening monologue by Rose in the beginning? Oh God. Once you seen the whole movie (up to the film's tragic ending), the film's opening will make a lot of sense upon a Rewatch Bonus and a lot more tears.
  • Rose's opening monologue, considering that she is quietly dying from a broken heart and a drug overdose. "I, uh... I got a little song. I want to sing to you. That I learned when I was...just...so high. It was really the first...blues...I ever heard...by this funny little man named Furry Lewis. It went. It went..."
  • Rose's parents looking over their daughter's estate with some people after her tragic overdose in the beginning. The father has tears in his eyes. And as the camera man snaps a photo, it zooms in closely over Rose's childhood picture.
  • Every time Rose goes to her manager and asks to take a break for a year before going back on your, her manager Rudge guilt-trips her into changing her mind and keep on singing. She laments to him "I am so tired".
  • Rose giving an emotional performance cover of "When A Man Loves A Woman".
  • When Rose meets her idol Billy Ray only to be turned down and criticized by him because he disapproves of her covers of his songs and tells her never to do such again. Even worst is that her manager Rudge knew about his hostility and went along with it anyways because he was going to sign Billy Ray on his record deal.
    • Where she shines, and the movie excels, is in the stage performances. Midler, as Rose, puts so much into her performances, that you can almost sympathize with her whining about being tired. They are physically and emotionally draining for her.
    • Midler gives the soundtrack her all. Along with the title song, the stand outs are "Midnight in Memphis" and "When a Man Loves a Woman".
  • A a brutal rendition of "Stay With Me" at the climax with Rose desperately pleading for her life in song. The theme of the movie is how everyone always leaves her alone in the end. Her last words onstage are a whispered query, “Where you going...? Where's everybody going...?”.