TV REVIEWS : Jazz Age Dreams Haunt New ‘Zelda’

It’s no mystery why Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald continue to exert such a lock on our imaginations. Their Jazz Age spree and doomed romantic odyssey epitomize the gaudy cost of the American Dream.

Now, after all the biographical plays, movie and TV chronicles dating to “The Beloved Infidel” (1959), comes what might be the most expressive and darkly artful of the Fitzgerald dramas yet: “Zelda,” with a haunting, luminous performance by British actress Natasha Richardson in the title role (at 5, 7 and 9 p.m. Sunday on TNT cable).

While the focus is on the dazzling, gifted, erratic Zelda, the production gives almost equal measure to husband Scott Fitzgerald (surprisingly and respectably portrayed by Timothy Hutton, who turns out to cut a very workable likeness to the famous author). But this is Zelda’s bedeviled story, which, like her husband’s, has long since burned its way into our popular culture.

The outlines of that story--the sought-after Southern belle, her outrageous behavior, insecurity and ultimate plunge into madness--are covered with economy and narrative urgency, but it’s Richardson’s compelling performance that distinguishes the Robert Greenwald production.

Richardson, who last year mesmerized PBS audiences in Tennessee Williams’ “Suddenly Last Summer” and earlier this year captured acclaim on Broadway for the title role in “Anna Christie,” is alternately startling and dangerous in her subtle, calibrated descent into insanity.

Screenwriters Anthony Ivor and Benedict Fitzgerald (no relation) etch a decidedly dark relationship beset by too much arrogance, partying and jealousy--professional and otherwise.--RAY LOYND