Thoughts from the thread in Indie section...

I really, really liked it, actually.

The direction is nearly flawless. Seriously, Mary Harron is an uber-genius. The stylistic choices were perfect. I loved the use of Super 16. And the way the stock would change to color every time she went to Miami... loved it.

Gretchen Mol is superb. I think people are kind of selling her performance short because she's not asked to display a huge range, but it's the nuances in the performance that make it what it is. When she's posing in front of the cameras as Page, she's absolutely brilliant.

The screenplay is pretty much spot on. There are some great moments of humor (more then you might expect, actually), and I felt it delved just enough into Bettie's life without becoming too heavy and cumbersome. I really feel like people are unfairly criticizing this film because they're expecting it to be some sort of bloated, pretentious heavyweight that we've all come to expect from your average biopic, and it's not. It's about capturing a moment in someone's life. It's not interested in telling you every sordid detal and minute event that made up Bettie Page. It's giving you Bettie at the height of her stardom, and that's it. And frankly, I wish more biopics would do the same.

So, yeah... it's hugely entertaining, and pretty much masterful in all techincal aspects. I loved it. I gave it an A- in the movies of 2006 thread, but I meant to be put A

Sounds great makeshift. But more importantly, do we get to see Gretchen naked? If so, I'm there!!

[perv mode]

Yeah, we do. Full frontal. She's amazing. She's like, what... thirty-something years old? She has the body of someone in their early twenties.

[/perv mode]

Well here's a bizzare situation that doesn't happen to me very often. I liked the film. I liked it for what it was. I thought Gretchen Mol gave the performance of her lifetime, and I liked the decisions by Harron with the black & white and color. The thing is though, it's way too short. For me, once she became a born again Christian I thought we were going into the third act. Then all of a sudden the credits come up. I do think there was enough of the religious aspect, but everything else seemed to lack depth. I would've liked to seen more of the senate and David Strathairn along with Sarah Paulson. I also would've liked to have seen more of the Bettie Page who was a struggling actor.

So, I liked it, but I can't really give a reccomendation. I know almost nothing of Bettie Page, and I still feel the same way coming out. I kind of thought this was Bettie Page for beginners.

C

I'll pretty much just echo jmart's opinion on this one.... The Notorious Bettie Page felt pretty hollow, kind of pointless, and very toothless. However, it's not without its merits... it was well acted, shot nicely (I liked the B&W and color contrasting styles), and easy to watch.

I thought they missed out on the more interesting part of her life, after her modeling days... the dropping off the face of the Earth, mental institution visits, her penniless days, and finally her rise to pop culture icon. There seems like there would be a lot more meat in that angle, and some fresh information. However, the movie just ends with her quitting modeling, being "saved", and it gives the illusion it was a "happy ever after" ending for Page.

As it is, it was interesting to see how different the morals of the 50's were to today, and it was not hard watching Gretchen Mol, but I just came away with an empty feeling about the whole movie.

My grade: C+

Grechen Mol naked is so hot that it makes the other wise good but lite film get a grade of an A-

I agree. It's a very toothless film.

An interesting one, though.

Focusing in on one section of a figure's life is fine; it's just that in doing so, that exploration needs to penetrate deep enough that it becomes representative, more or less, of that figure. I felt like this film, while well-crafted, barely scratched the surface.

A swift, entertaining watch, though.

B-

This is on hbo or something in the background of my computer right now. It's making me want to watch the movie, cuz every time I look up I see brilliant interactions between Gretchen Mol and co, and a wonderful...i dunno the word. Setting? Atmosphere? What do you call all the stuff around the characters...the costumes and language and pictures on the wall and such? It's just a great little world.
So, next time it's on I think I'll really watch it. :o