The Notorious Bettie Page (2006)

Gretchen Mol
Lili Taylor
David Strathairn
Jonathan M. Woodward
Cara Seymour
Tara Subkoff

Directed by Mary Harron

Plot: The story of the super successful 1950's pin-up model, Bettie Page, one of the first sex icons in America, and the target of a major Senate investigation--based on her highly provocative bondage photos.

Review: I never knew much about Bettie Page other than she was gorgeous and an icon. I love true stories about people’s lives, celebrities or not. What appealed to me most about this film is that her life was somewhat of a mystery and I wanted to find out about it.

This film was pretty good. I don’t know how accurate the story is, since there is so much mystery about her life, but I still enjoyed it. The performances were good all around, but the high point to this film is Gretchen Mol. I don’t know anything about her, much like Bettie Page, but she was great. Not only did she seem to really like playing her and pull it off nicely, she looked exactly like her. The film uses a cool effect of being black and white, like most of Bettie’s photos, except when she is in Miami, which turns very colorful and bright. It almost changes with her emotions. The film isn’t a spectacular film, but one that I enjoyed. I do think that Gretchen Mol deserves some kind of recognition for her excellent portrayal of Bettie Page.
 

Film Review Index