One week ago from yesterday, HBO’s Grey Gardens was released on DVD. One week ago from tomorrow, HBO’s Grey Gardens was nominated for 17 Emmy awards. One week ago today, I watched the movie, and it was pretty good.
The great stuff: The performances of Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange, both of whom were first-rate. Lange being great is no surprise, but Barrymore being great kinda is a surprise, and for this reason, I hope Drew Barrymore clobbers Jessica Lange in the race for Best Actress in a Miniseries or Movie.
Also great: Virtually all aspects of the film’s design—sets, costumes, hair and makeup—all of which was clearly executed by people who loved the shit out of the original Grey Gardens.
Unfortunately not-so-great: The script, written by the film’s director Michael Sucsy and Patricia Rozema, the screenwriter/director of I’ve Heard The Mermaids Singing and Mansfield Park. As you may know, HBO’s Grey Gardens is split between two basic time periods: the 1970s, when the Beales were famously shut up in their dilapidated, vermin-ridden Hamptons mansion (as seen in the original documentary), and the 1950s, when a lot of the things that made the Beales hole up in their dilapidated, vermin-ridden Hamptons mansion went down. With the ’70s material, HBO’s writers primarily and wisely stuck to dialogue lifted from the documentary, but with the ’50s material, things often get inordinately simple, heavy-handed, and soap-opera-y, with at least a half-dozen lines causing me to wince in pain.
Still, some of the “written” scenes had a lot to offer—I loved both young Little Edie’s impromptu audition at the Manhattan restaurant (which perfectly captured her iffy balance between charm and psychosis) and older Little Edie’s experience of the release of the original Grey Gardens (she loved it).
In the end, I imagine HBO’s good-but-flawed Grey Gardens will ultimately inspire many many people to check out the original, perfectly amazing Grey Gardens, and I get the sense the makers of the HBO film have the same hope. The final shot of the HBO film finds Big Edie on the phone with a reporter from the New York Times, who asks if she has anything to say about the just-released documentary. She declines to comment: “Everything I have to say is in the film.”
I really loved the movie, Drew Barrymore at last in a performance that made me forget she was Drew and she nailed the voice! Bravo. Jessica was also very good. I hope they get some Golden Globe love next year as well as some Emmys.
As of last Friday, this was the featured movie on the Seattle-to-Portland Cascades run on Amtrak, and it was hilarious to watch while hearing the murmuring around me of people wondering what the hell the movie was about and why they had never heard of it. Drew Barrymore was brilliant; she nailed the voice, and also the physical mannerisms – the fidgetiness, the weird choppy dance movies, the constant smoothing of her “costume”. It was amazing, in that regard.
Christ, how old is Jessica Lange? She looks ancient in that promo pic. Did they age her with makeup or is she really as close to the grave as she appears?
I just finished watching this last night and Drew Barrymore blew me away with her performance. It was so spot-on. The details they managed to recreate were perfect. Well done.
I love the two actresses in the film.
But the film itself?
Meh.
3: Don’t fret, it’s all makeup and wonky glasses. For a whole lot of the film, Lange is the gorgeous older woman you know and love…
I somehow doubt this review. The Stranger has a knack for overrating substance lacking films that have good costumes and delightful cinematography. I always feel like I can tell Barrymore and Lange are acting when I watch them.
People like them, like Meryl Streep, are terrible actresses because they live in la la land and have for too long.
Maybe it’s good though, maybe I’m wrong.
Haven’t seen it yet, but Drew’s interview with Terri Gross about how she got into the role for Little Edie was intriguing.