The Glorias

For a film from the director of Across the Universe in which four B&W depictions of Gloria Steinem converse with each other about the feminist icon’s life while aboard an antique bus, The Glorias is a surprisingly tame affair.

Far more straightforward than that metaphysical road trip suggests, Julie Taymor’s otherwise colorful biopic nevertheless succeeds at chronicling Steinem’s rise — and gets wonderfully trippy a few times, most memorably in a sequence that culminates with an homage to The Wizard of Oz.

Aiding her efforts are Julianne Moore, a dead-ringer for the activist from her 30s on, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong (The Art of Racing in the Rain), whose appealing work as our hero’s preteen self gets the film off to a strong start, especially in scenes alongside Timothy Hutton as her wheeler/dealer dad Leo, aka “Steinemite.”

Less impactful are Lulu Wilson (The Haunting of Hill House) as teen Gloria, who’s barely on screen long enough to make and impression, and Alicia Vikander, undone by an attempt to capture Steinem’s slightly nasally speech pattern that — as was the case in Jason Bourne — awkwardly makes her sound like Jennifer Coolidge in Best in Show.

Appearances by fellow feminist leaders Dorothy Pitman Hughes (Janelle Monáe), Flo Kennedy (a fiery Lorraine Toussaint, Fast Color), and Bella Abzug (Bette Midler) nicely emphasize that Steinem was one of many important figures in the women’s rights movement, but Taymor also doesn’t downplay her subject’s accomplishments.

The all-star cog in an essential machine focus is where The Glorias proves most effective — as well as relevant to enduring and new struggles — but considering the talent involved, the cap on the filmmakers’ imagination in making Steinem’s story even more, well, glorious is somewhat disappointing.

Grade: B. Rated R. Available to stream via Amazon Prime Video

(Photo: Dan McFadden/Courtesy of LD Entertainmet and Roadside Attractions)