The Rose (1979)

Drama loosely based on the life and death of Janis Joplin. 

Bette Midler plays Rose, a troubled singer who enters a downward spiral of addiction and self-hate. Alan Bates plays her promoter, but not very well. 

I found it strangely compelling despite it being overwrought. Bette Midler cries and shouts a lot. The onstage song performances are probably the best aspect of the film, and Midler really puts everything into them.  

It’s set in the late 1960s but the period detail is muddling and everything looks very 1979. Worth seeing – if only once.