| Overall Grade: |
A |
|
| Story: |
A |
|
|
| Acting: |
A |
|
|
| Direction: |
A |
|
|
| Visuals: |
A |
|
|
Another Recalled Product from the Factory
by Woody A (movies profile)
Dec 3, 2007
27
of
30 people found this review helpful
The genious of Factory Girl is that you feel the shallowness and the true boredom of The Factory world. If you've ever been around someone who has narcissitic tendicies (and all The Factory members did), at their core, they're incredibly dull; but from a psychological and voyeristic standpoint, that is why the people who inhabited The Factory were so fascinating. And if anybody has experienced first hand the downtown culture of clubbing, fashion, music, art, drugs, etc. in which all is momentary and expendible; and its patrons always looking for the next cool thing or next "it" person and is incredibly self-absorbed; you understand how this movie got that entire world correct. The typical, media-movie reviewer who lives in a box isn't going to get it, thus junking this film. Sad. Contrary to some reviews, Sienna Miller's acting is not "bad." She's very good. In fact, excellent. Just because she can't make us feel sympathy for an unsympathetic character is a testiment to her true portrayal of the "poor little rich girl." Edie Sedgewick was an F'd-up drug addict who barried her emotions all the way to her feet by whatever means she could. She was a hip and cool shell around empty space. Why should the filmmaker create "sympathy" for Edie when everyone in her own world could not feel sympathy for her? When was the last time you felt sympathy for a self-destructive, tabloid cover girl? (Does Anna Nicole Smith come to mind?) And why should the filmmaker go out of their way to help us KNOW Edie when her peers didn't ever know her? Edie had no idea who she was. She, like the rest of The Factory crew, thrived on a facade of self-fabulousness in order to bare their own sense of emptiness, uselessness, and self-loathing. They had about as much depth as a piece of copy paper. Unlike the rest of the night-crawling losers (including Andy Warhol), Edie actually had a personality that individuals outside The Factory could relate; hence, why Andy and his cohorts were so threatened by her (which came across in subtle and vampiric ways). And if people are bothered by the fact that sometimes the film feels more like its about Andy Warhol than about Edie Sedgewick, it's because Edie Sedgewick didn't exist without the vapid and vampiric Andy; who is portrayed amazingly by Guy Pierce. Guy is an incredible actor who can completely transform himself. I kept forgetting the person on the screen was the same guy in "Mementos" (one of my all-time favorite flicks) and "Priscilla." The rest of the cast does a credible job, and this movie served itself well by limiting itself to 1.5 hours, instead of riding the trend of 2.5-hour & 3-hour movies. As Andy stated, everyone will have their 15-minutes of fame, and Edie had about 1.5 hours worth. |
My Public Profile 
