Starred Review. Composer Cy Coleman said that working with director and choreographer Bob Fosse was like going to a good dentist: it hurts for a while, but look at that smile. After watching Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me, the same could be said of Stritch: a real pain, but, oh, the results. Elaine Stritch at Liberty (2002) remains a master class for anyone in the performing arts. This current film is sadder, more realistic, as viewers watch a fiery icon's health inevitably decline. As always, Stritch is direct and (mostly) honest about her talents and her battles with alcohol, cigarettes, memory loss, and control. Her friends and audiences pull for her at every turn. The performer had earlier announced her retirement from the stage and from New York City living, but here she is back for one more go. Director Karasawa knows Stritch never needs coaching and just lets her tell her own story. Friends and admirers such as Nathan Lane, Alec Baldwin, Tina Fey, and the late James Gandolfini weigh in from time to time to attest to her feistiness and sheer power of being. VERDICT Not a tribute but an excellent warts-and-all revelation of a massive talent and ego who is not going quietly into that good night. Give 'em hell, Elaine. [Stritch died on July 17, at the age of 89.]-Gerald A. Notaro, librarian emeritus, Univ. of South Florida, St. Petersburg (c) Copyright 2014. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.