_**Surprisingly good, sometimes great, and more balanced than its reputation**_ The life of Joan Crawford (Faye Dunaway) is detailed from 1939, when her career was on a downswing, to her death in 1977, focusing on her rivalrous relationship with her adopted daughter Christina (Mara Hobel & Diana Scarwid). “Mommie Dearest” (1981) is a ‘controversial’ drama because it dares to reveal the hidden truth about a member of Hollywood royalty, at least according to her first two adopted kids, Christina and Christopher, who have stuck to their guns in the decades since. Sure, the younger twin sisters,…