The Notorious Bettie Page
I have to admit that as a bit of a hipster doofus, I have a certain affinity to Bettie Page and was looking forward to seeing The Notorious Bettie Page. Personally I would have preferred a little more realistic depiction, but what I got was well done and entertaining.
There really isn’t a whole lot to the story itself. At this point biopics damn near write themselves. This film really isn’t much different than many others you’ve seen. It starts as a flashback, goes through her troubled childhood in a devoutly religious family, endures sexual abuse and has a failed first marriage. She awakens when she reaches New York and becomes part of the underground smut trade and after being called before a Senate subcommittee on pornography turns her life over to Jesus.
On the whole, the supporting characters do a good job, but nothing that really stands out, except possibly Lili Taylor as Paula Klaw. This really isn’t the fault of the actors; the script itself doesn’t really give them a lot of room to breath. Frankly, they did the best with what they had, and I really don’t think that they were meant to be more than outlines anyway. However, Gretchen Mol almost out Bettie Page’s Bettie Page. Sure it’s sort of an overly sunny view, but she got what she was going for and it fits the tone of this film.
The Notorious Bettie Page is first and foremost a very nostalgic film. Visually, it does a fine job of reflecting that. With the black and white New York sequences and the Technicolor scenes that take place in Miami, this film almost seems to capture the action the same way the films of the time would have. Personally, I found the colors and some of the effects, such as having Bettie as a living magazine cover, very interesting. Now don’t get me wrong, these aren’t things you haven’t seen before, but they were fitting and used well.
The only real problem is, well, I’m not buying it. It’s a nice story, but it’s just not an accurate depiction of what reality is. Granted, I don’t think it was ever meant to be, but I have a problem with people sitting down to watch this film and thinking that Bettie Page’s life was all unicorns and rainbows. It makes people think that she was working with the nicest pornographers to ever walk the planet and then she turned her life over to the Lord and started telling people about Jesus. That’s fine and all except it leaves out some important details, such as the time she spent time in a mental institution as punishment for, oh I don’t know, stabbing three people. Not only that, but she’s still alive and refuses to make any public appearances, so people will remember her they way she used to be. Her life has been a lot harder than this film let’s on.
Overall, this is one that’s worth seeing. If you’re a Bettie Page fan you’ll dig Gretchen Mol, but don’t expect to watch this and think that you know everything thing there is to know about the woman. As a matter of fact, you really won’t learn that much. This is like the Disney version of Bettie Page’s life, although, Snow White has some similar qualities.
The Grade
- Story: C+
- Acting: B-
- Visuals: B
- Originality: C
- Enjoyability: B
- Overall: B-
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