Anybody else looking forward to Grey Gardens?

[annehere]

I've seen both the Maysles documentaries and am in love with these ladies. I was mortified when I first heard a movie was being made, as I thought NO ACTRESS could capture these ladies, especially Little Edie, and when I heard it would be Drew Barrymore, well, I figured I'd never give it 5 minutes of my time. No offense to Barrymore, I just didn't think she could ever become Little Edie.

But I'm thrilled with the and I think it'll be good. Maybe great.

[Wheresgeorge04]

My knee-jerk reaction was (and still is) complete disgust at the casting of Drew Barrymore. In fact, the whole thing squicks me out. It reeks of... something. It all depends on the tone of the movie. It could be good, or very, very bad and offensive.

Sorry for the vagueness. It's just how I feel - vaguely unsettled about it, period.

Joe

[Sleeps w/Butterflies]

I adore Drew but I am the first to admit that she's no great actress. Having said that, the trailers I've seen are interesting and she certainly seems like Little Edie to me. I'll be watching.

[annehere]

I have to admit that the dilapidated house in the HBO movie looked a lot more dilapidated than I remembered the actual house looking. That kind of bummed me out—why do movies always have to exaggerate the truth, as if the truth wasn't enough to make a movie? Anyway, that said, I can't wait.

[jali]

I'm looking forward to someday seeing this.

I think Drew Barrymore might be great. I think she's better than much of the material she's chosen.

[vison]

There was an interview on CBC radio yesterday with the 2 producers of this movie. It was very interesting. I confess I had never heard of Big Edie or Little Edie before, but I think I might watch it. The producers thought Drew Barrymore did a great job. Well, I guess they'd say that, but their praise seemed genuine.

I do hope Jessica Lange doesn't twitch so much any more.

[jayjay]

I thought both Drew and Jessica did WONDERFUL work on this! It was a great two hours...and I admit, I misted up a bit toward the end.

[norinew]

I have seen both Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore on the Ellen Show, on which Ellen (apparently a big fan of both the documentary and the HBO production) shows extensive clips. I don't have HBO, but the clips I've seen make me wish I did, and I've just added the documentary to my Blockbuster queue. I'm guessing when the HBO production comes out on video, I'll add that, too.

[annehere]

I enjoyed it a lot. I realized that the uber-dilapidated house depicted in the preview was the house pre-renovations, so now it makes sense that it looked so bad.

I actually argued with my boyfriend that the patriotic dance scene in the opening was the actual footage, that's how convincing Drew Barrymore was in that role to me! (it also helped that all the previews I saw beforehand kind of warmed me up to believing she was the real Little Edie- I'm sure if I saw them side by side the differences would be obvious, but anyway, I thought Drew nailed it for the most part)

I wasn't crazy about the CGI long shots of the house and gardens- they looked pretty fake to me.

I wish they would have included one of Little Edie's brilliant speeches about politics or men/astrology. Those were some of her best moments.

Really the best part of this movie was the depiction of the "fall from grace." That's the side of the story I always wanted to see.

All in all I give it a B+

<heads over to Netflix to rent the original documentaries again—it's time for my annual viewing!>

[jayjay]

I enjoyed it a lot. I realized that the uber-dilapidated house depicted in the preview was the house pre-renovations, so now it makes sense that it looked so bad.

I actually argued with my boyfriend that the patriotic dance scene in the opening was the actual footage, that's how convincing Drew Barrymore was in that role to me! (it also helped that all the previews I saw beforehand kind of warmed me up to believing she was the real Little Edie- I'm sure if I saw them side by side the differences would be obvious, but anyway, I thought Drew nailed it for the most part)

I wasn't crazy about the CGI long shots of the house and gardens- they looked pretty fake to me.

I wish they would have included one of Little Edie's brilliant speeches about politics or men/astrology. Those were some of her best moments.

Really the best part of this movie was the depiction of the "fall from grace." That's the side of the story I always wanted to see.

All in all I give it a B+

<heads over to Netflix to rent the original documentaries again—it's time for my annual viewing!>

I noticed that they took snippets of dialogue from the documentary and put them in different places (f'rinstance, the line about the cat going to the bathroom behind the portrait was Big Edie's, and happened in the bedroom during a shoot, rather than Jackie O's in the foyer). I was also originally kind of put off by the way they depicted the cabaret act, until I read the Wiki entry on Little Edie and found out that the management of Reno Sweeney's was shielding her from the horrible reviews. It took a little mental juggling but I eventually came to terms with the fact that it was the fulfillment of this poor woman's dreams and really an act of sympathy and mercy on the part of Reno Sweeney's management to allow her that week of headlining despite her lack of actual talent.

It's interesting that it's mostly their situation that makes the two Edies sympathetic...neither of them seemed to be a really nice person, and both of them were kind of selfish and more than a little mentally ill. Big E's obsession with the house and the things she did in the good times were major factors in what happened later, and so was Little E's passivity once her spirit was broken by being forced back to East Hampton. But at the same time, both of them were more or less trapped by the way that women were brought up and trained in their time...neither had any real marketable skills or money management ability.

I'd never seen the documentary (still haven't, in full...I've been watching Youtube clips), and probably wouldn't even know who they were if the musical hadn't existed.

I do think they fiddled with the Maysles' ages with the casting. The older one was less than 10 years younger than Little Edie, and the younger only 13. They both looked to be at least 20 years younger than the (at the time of the filming of the doc) 60-year-old Little Edie.

[Pork Rind]

I enjoyed it a lot. I realized that the uber-dilapidated house depicted in the preview was the house pre-renovations, so now it makes sense that it looked so bad.

My understanding is that it got that bad again, post-documentary. When Ben Bradlee bought the house, I guess parts of the kitchen and living room had fallen through to the basement. And I've also read that Lee Radziwill had asked/put pressure on the filmmakers to not show some of the worst areas of the house during the filming. The cleanup didn't stick, apparently.

[annehere]

I noticed that they took snippets of dialogue from the documentary and put them in different places

This for sure. The word "staunch" is one of her classic lines from the documentary, and if I remember correctly, it was said during one of the "early years" scenes in this movie. That kinda weirded me out, but I'm sure it was meant to help inform the past and "knit" it to the present.

Yes, certain relatives appeared in the documentary, but of course Jackie never showed her face! And where was the Marble Faun??

The documentaries are a MUST EXPERIENCE for anyone who was even remotely entertained by this movie.

[OneCentStamp]

I adore Drew but I am the first to admit that she's no great actress.

In your av photo, at least, you look a bit like her.