What to Watch: 'Shoot Me' Is a Fascinating Portrait of the Late Elaine Stritch

Elaine Stritch: Shoot Me (2013) Netflix
The Basics: An unflinching documentary spotlighting the feisty octogenarian, directed by Chiemi Karasawa
If You Liked: Six by Sondheim, Crumb
The Nugget: A Broadway legend stares down the end of her career

When Elaine Stritch died this past July at age 89, the kingdoms of Broadway and cabaret lost a member of royalty. Although a new generation may have known her as Alec Baldwin’s tough-as-nails mother on 30 Rock, Stritch — one of the great interpreters of Stephen Sondheim’s music — was a longtime leading lady, triumphing in both dramatic and musical roles since the 1950s. Performing was obviously the stimulant she couldn’t live without; this warts-and-all documentary captures the then-86-year-old diva (a recovering alcoholic suffering from diabetes, arthritis, and memory loss) preparing for appearances in New York and Detroit. Pushing against adversity with a tank-like determination (with salty language that would make a sailor blush), Stritch refuses to be stopped by the vicissitudes of age. Crusty yet vulnerable, Stritch is a fascinatingly complicated figure and Karasawa rarely shies away from her complexities. And, as a bonus, we get to peek in as Tracy Morgan compares blood-sugar levels with a woman old enough to be his grandmother.